AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Hundreds of people filled a theater and passersby honked their horns in sympathy as family and friends shared their memories of Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man killed in a hail of police gunfire in Akron, at his funeral Wednesday.
Mourners passed his open casket during the viewing at the Akron Civic Theatre, some attendees wearing T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” or “Zero Threat, Zero Violence, Justice for Jayland.”
“When I think about Jayland, I think about someone who had the biggest heart,” said Robin Elerick, Walker’s cousin, one of the speakers. “He was so sweet and so authentically genuine and that’s what I’ll always remember about him.”
Walker’s best friend, through tears, recalled how they were like brothers and listened to music together like one of Walker’s favorite rappers, Jadakiss.
“I don’t want anybody to try to make it seem like my best friend was a bad dude,” said Dupri Whatley. “Because he was not. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at now.”
Bishop Timothy Clarke, of the First Church of God in Columbus, preached about how Walker’s death, and the deaths of other men and women, cannot be normalized.
“We must not try to act as if this is all right,” Clarke said. “This is not all right. There’s nothing right about this. We should not be here, and Jayland should not be in that box.”
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan declared Wednesday a day of mourning in the city.
Walker was killed June 27 at the end of a vehicle and foot chase that followed an attempted traffic stop. He wasn’t armed when he was shot, but authorities said Walker had fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the chase. Police body camera footage released by the city on July 3 shows Walker wearing a ski mask, jumping out the front passenger door of his still-moving car and then running into a parking lot.
That blurry footage does not clearly show what authorities say was a threatening gesture before he was shot by eight officers, seven who are white and one who is Black.
Investigators haven’t confirmed how many rounds were fired or how many times he was shot. The Summit County medical examiner’s office said it found more than 60 wounds on Walker’s body but hasn’t said how many were entrance and exit wounds.
Akron police released a photo that showed an unloaded handgun, an ammunition clip and what appeared to be a wedding ring on the driver’s seat of Walker’s car.
Walker’s fiancee was killed a month earlier when a semi struck the back of a van she was riding in, tossing her from the vehicle, on Interstate 71 outside Cincinnati. She was then struck by another vehicle that fled the scene without stopping.
Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Walker’s family, said that Walker, a Door Dash driver with no criminal record, did not deserve to be killed.
Less than 24 hours earlier, an officer in nearby New Franklin Township had tried to stop a car believed to be Walker’s for the same equipment violations that led to the Akron chase. A police supervisor called off the pursuit when the driver crossed the township border into Akron.
DiCello said Walker’s actions during both pursuits was “odd behavior relative to who he was as a person. He was obviously dealing with something because he never acted like that before and his record proved that.”
Downtown Akron has seen daily protests since city officials released body camera footage from the eight officers. They’ve announced a nightly curfew in downtown Akron from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The eight officers have not been identified. Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said on Monday that rumors about the names of the officers have led to disinformation and that “bounties” have been placed on their lives.
A community relations team from the U.S. Department of Justice has been monitoring Walker’s shooting and has offered to help communications with groups about the city and its police policies.
Akron police asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to handle the investigation into the shooting. BCI’s findings will be turned over to the Summit County prosecutor’s office to present evidence to a grand jury to determine if any officers will be charged criminally.
Akron police are conducting an internal investigation to determine if officers followed procedures, including the department’s pursuit policy, that night.
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