Two years after his death, the family of Jaquyn O’Neill Light is suing the City of Graham, its former police chief and the patrol officer who fired the shot that killed him.
The suit filed in federal court claims the officer violated Light’s right to due process by shooting the unarmed 20-year-old while executing an arrest warrant for what the suit called a probation violation and misdemeanor charge.
After getting an anonymous tip on Jan. 28, 2020, three officers went to his house on East Elm Street to arrest him at close to 11:30 p.m. A large sheet of black plastic covered the front door, so two officers went around back, while officer Marcus Pollock was out front. An officer was looking for Light inside the house, according to a report the Alamance County District Attorney’s Office presented to media in July 2020. The officer realized Light was trying to escape through the front door. A third officer radioed to Pollock that Light was coming.
Pollock got closer to the door, noted the DA's report. When Light pushed through a corner of the plastic at the front steps, Pollock identified himself as police. By that time, Light was running into Pollock’s chest. Pollock grabbed Light’s shoulder with his left hand and his .45 caliber pistol went off in his right as soon as they made contact.
After he was shot, Light kept struggling with Pollock, according to the report, and the two of them moved 20 to 25 feet before Pollock brought Light to the ground and handcuffed him. He lost his gun in the struggle, but it was found soon after the shooting.
An officer caught up to Pollock and Light about 20 seconds after the shot was fired. He asked Pollock if Light shot at him. Pollock, according to the report, said, “No, he ran into me. My gun went off.”
The medical examiner’s report found the bullet hit Light in his belly above and to the left of his navel. It missed his major organs but damaged his arteries causing significant blood loss. He died at UNC Hospital at 12:26 a.m., about 42 minutes after he was shot.
Pollock did not turn his body camera on until after he shot and handcuffed Light, a violation of department policy, noted the report. The other two officers had activated their cameras when they got out of their cars before going to the house, but neither of them was there when Light was shot.
The district attorney’s office found the evidence supported the accidental shooting theory and gave no probable cause to prosecute Pollock.
From the beginning, there were rumors Light had been shot in the back, which District Attorney Sean Boone said was not true. There was little information available to the public while the investigation was going on, including whether or not Light was armed or how many times he had been shot. Nor was it clear to those who didn’t know Pollock that the officer that shot Light was also Black.
Light’s family accuses the city, Pollock and former Chief Jeff Pritchard of violating Light’s rights under the U.S. Constitution, saying the city and chief had poor hiring practices, failed to train and properly discipline officers.
Pollock, according to the suit, had previous use-of-force claims against him from previous jobs, though it does not elaborate on what complaints he faced. According to his LinkedIn page, Pollock was with the Greensboro Police Department for 18 years, where he was a detective and corporal before coming to Graham in 2017 as a patrol officer.
Pritchard as chief was negligent to hire Pollock, failed to properly train him, and the city has a history of failing to properly vet and train officers to avoid violating people’s rights and to discipline officers when they use force improperly, the suit claims. Again, the suit does not present any specifics about that alleged history.
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. No one from the City of Graham immediately responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Isaac Groves is an Alamance County watchdog reporter for the Times-News and the USA Today Network. Call or text 919-998-8039 with tips and comments or follow him on Twitter @TNIGroves.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Family of slain Graham man, Jaquyn Light, sues police officer who shot him, police chief and city
