MIAMI – A heartbroken South Florida family remains in mourning months after their loved one was shot and killed by a Miami police officer.
The grieving family gathered Wednesday night to demand justice.
“We’re not sleeping and it’s not okay, a parent is not supposed to bury their son,” said Gerald Adams, Cooper’s father.
Antwon Cooper was just 34 years old when his life was ended by a police-fired bullet.
The shooting occurred near the intersection of Northwest 71st Street and 10th Avenue in Miami exactly three months ago on March 8.
Cooper was behind the wheel of a red sedan during a traffic stop that day when an officer determined he didn’t have his license and asked Cooper to step out of the car.
Not long after there was a struggle and Cooper apparently attempted to flee.
One officer ended up on the ground while a second one fired the shot that struck Cooper in the head and killed him.
Body camera footage of the deadly exchange shows one angle of what happened.
“They know that the family is suffering from this, but they don’t care,” said Cooper’s grandmother, Helen Bryant. “They trying to cover up something but they ain’t cover up this because my mouth is too loud for that.”
Cooper’s parents and nearly two dozen family and friends came out Wednesday in his support.
“You took my world from me, my whole life and it’s not fair,” said Tallisha Cooper, the victim’s mother.
The police sergeant who fired the fatal shot remains employed by Miami PD but has been reassigned and is on paid administrative leave, according to the department.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami Police Department are investigating the shooting.
Cooper’s family is planning to file a civil lawsuit.