The Mamou, La., woman who witnessed a police officer shoot her boyfriend in the early hours of July 6 has been released from jail, according to multiple reports.
According to ABC News, 21-year-old Dequince Brown was released on $75,000 bond after spending four days in the Evangeline Parish Jail for first-degree attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer. Brown was the girlfriend of Dejuan Guillory, who was shot multiple times by an Evangeline Parish sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop.
Aside from Deputy Paul Holden Lafleur, who allegedly shot 27-year-old Guillory, Brown is the only witness to the death, which happened around 4:10 a.m. on a gravel road just outside of Mamou. According to Brown, the couple was stopped by Lafleur while they were riding an all-terrain vehicle down a country road, frog hunting.
Brown says that Lafleur and Guillory got into a brief altercation, and when Guillory surrendered to Lafleur, lying on his stomach, Lafleur shot him in the back. Brown states that she jumped on Lafleur and bit him, and Lafleur fired three more times at Guillory, killing him.
According to KIFY, on Monday, the Louisiana State Police released details from their interview with Lafleur, alleging that:
- During their altercation, Guillory knocked Lafleur “possibly unconscious.”
- Guillory indeed lay on the ground, and when the officer attempted to handcuff him, Brown said, “We’re going to kill him,” jumped on Guillory and bit him.
- Lafleur says he shot Guillory during a struggle.
- Brown reached for his gun during the struggle.
The officer’s patrol car was equipped with a camera, and police investigators are conducting an analysis to determine what happened. The state is also conducting an autopsy and ballistics report.
Not contained in the report is the fact that of the more than 11,000 people killed by police in the last 10 years, only five white officers have been tried and convicted and served jail time for killing a black person.
