Guilford had been driving to his girlfriend’s house after playing basketball at his church when he encountered Frost, prompting him to flash his brights at the officer to get him to dim his lights. He refuses, questioning why he was stopped. He asks the teen for his license and registration. The county prosecutor said the teen fought with the deputy and was killed in “justifiable self-defense”.
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“I don’t even know you’re an officer”, he says in the video. “I didn’t have my brights on”. I was just doing that to be polite, I didn’t want you to flash someone and have someone go off the road and crash.
Eaton County prosecutors released this picture of Frost in the moments following the traffic stop in the rural central Michigan county.
The rest of the encounter unfolded quickly.
Frost pulled Guilford from the vehicle and ordered him to lie on his stomach next to his vehicle. The officer had no reason to stop him…. Guilford, whose autopsy showed he had smoked marijuana hours earlier, can be seen calling his girlfriend on his phone in the video. The Prosecutor’s conclusion was that the force used by Sgt. Frost was lawful, based upon his honest and reasonable belief that he faced a serious and imminent threat of great bodily harm or death. Guilford’s cellphone remained on the pavement, recording audio of the gun shots but did not capture video of the shooting.
Later, Guilford says he does not have his license, then says he does but will not show it to Frost.
Guilford was driving near Mulliken, Michigan, around 8:30 p.m. February 28, when Frost drove by, heading in the opposite direction. “You’re under arrest”, Frost shouts back before administering the taser.
Medical and forensic reports showed that Guilford, an eight-year veteran, had blood running down his face, and a doctor from Sparrow Hospital in Lansing reported that Guilford sustained “significant facial trauma”.
In a related report by the Inquisitr, the family of Tamir Rice claims that prosecutors are “whitewashing” the police shooting, which involved a Texas cop shooting a 12-year-old boy holding a pellet gun.
The lawsuit accuses Frost of violating Guilford’s constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure. She was arrested after arguing with the white officer and was later found dead in her jail cell in what authorities say was a suicide. However, because the officer was too close, the taser didn’t work properly. “But when that occurs, it is understandable and reasonable” that the decision “will be challenged and scrutinized by many sources”.
If the jury sides with the family in regards to the death of Deven Guilford, federal lawsuit damages to Eaton County could potentially be in the millions. Michigan traffic law does not prohibit the “flashing” of high beam lights.
“Deven didn’t think he should have been pulled over in the first place”, Heenan said Friday.
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“We are outraged at the huge miscarriage of justice done to our son”, Guilford’s family said in a statement. A struggle ensues, during which the bodycam is knocked off. Seven shots can be heard being fired, all of which hit Guilford. Eaton County Controller John Fuentes also declined to comment on the lawsuit. The officer’s home telephone number could not be found.
