INDIANAPOLIS — Two men were killed by Metro Police in two separate shootings last year and now their families are suing the city for what they call the wrongful deaths of their loved ones.
13News spoke with the families on Oct. 31. They were emotional, but very clear that they are calling for justice and accountability. They're asking for damages and a jury trial. Two men from two different families, who are now living a similar story.
"We just want them to be held accountable, because they are changing lives drastically. My brother had five children who will never get to see their father again. As our family, we are just seeking justice. They need to be held accountable," said Shayla Houston, Leandre Houston's sister.
"I want justice for my son because he didn't deserve to be shot out of a tree like a dog. If it was a cat in the tree, they would have called the fire department," said Roselyn Edwards Rogers, Darcel Edwards' mother. "I just want justice for him so no other mother will have to feel the pain that I feel daily. He had his faults, like we all do, but he was loved by everyone that he came across."
Here's what we know about these two shootings.
The first happened about a year ago. Darcel Edwards was killed near 25th Street and Columbia Avenue after a traffic stop. In the lawsuit, lawyers say he was shot in the back and was not a threat to officers. In fact, police say they never found a gun at that scene.
The second shooting happened about a month later when Leandre Houston was shot and killed by police after running from a traffic stop. But Houston wasn't the person police were after. He was a passenger in the car.
The attorneys, writing in this new lawsuit, said "Houston was running for his life from a wrongful police shooting - showing his back to the officers... and did not put any person or officers in imminent danger... nor actively resist arrest."
"We need to have that wall of protection for citizens that make officers be held accountable when they unnecessarily take human beings' lives. We should have a standard. If you're going to go out and kill someone, it has to be more than just you're trying to justify it. The killing must be necessary to save his life or another human beings live. That should be the standard," said Nathaniel Lee, an attorney for the families.
13News reached out to IMPD Thursday. They said out of respect for the judicial process, they don't comment on pending litigation.