Update: Families of Cocoa teens shot to death by Brevard deputy appeal dismissal of federal case
By: The families of two Cocoa teens gunned down by a Brevard County sheriff's deputy during a mistaken, attempted stop are appealing a federal judge's decision to dismiss a civil rights lawsuit against the sheriff's office.
The civil lawsuit was filed by high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump in April 2021, naming the deputy, Jafet Santiago-Miranda, now deceased, and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey as defendants in the case.
The teens, Angelo “A.J.” Crooms, 16, and 18-year-old Sincere Pierce, were killed by Santiago-Miranda during a Nov. 13, 2020, traffic stop involving a car that deputies initially thought was stolen, even though the tag did not match that of the stolen vehicle.
“Yes, it was dismissed and is now being appealed by our team,” said Natalie Jackson, one of several attorneys representing the families.
Ivey remains a defendant, Jackson said.
Santiago-Miranda stepped toward the car, with booming music playing inside, that was driven by Crooms as Crooms attempted to drive through a residential yard at 10-12 mph, reports show.
The families claimed the sheriff’s deputy violated the teen’s rights by using excessive force. The judge, however, pointed out in his 19-page ruling issued last month that "it was reasonable for Santiago Miranda to conclude that his life was in peril."
The judge added that Santiago-Miranda also "did not have time to calculate angles and trajectories to determine whether he was a few feet outside of harm’s way."
The case — investigated by the sheriff's office — generated questions about the sheriff office's deadly force policies. There were also protests, from the streets of Cocoa to the front doors of the state attorney's office in Viera.
The state attorney’s office, reviewing the autopsy and sheriff’s investigative reports, exonerated Santiago-Miranda and laid blame for Miranda’s decision to use deadly force on Crooms’ decision to attempt to drive away from the traffic stop in the deputy’s general direction.
Santiago-Miranda, with gun drawn, shouted commands for Crooms to stop the car, then fired at least 10 shots into the car over a span of 2.1 seconds as the vehicle slowly moved forward and past him, reports show.
Ivey did not publicly acknowledge the deadly shooting for four days. A dash cam video — the agency does not use body cams — was released shortly after the shooting.
During an April 2021 protest in front of the Moore Justice Center in Viera, Crump called on the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and review the case, which prompted a protest that drew hundreds along U.S. 1 nearly two weeks after the shooting.
“These were lives that were shortened for nothing. He took those boys’ lives for nothing. And we don’t have any apologies, no nothing,” said Cynthia Green, the adoptive of Pierce. Green had seen Pierce off a few minutes before, making sure he grabbed a sausage sandwich before heading out to leave with his friends for the day.
“I’m just done. It was all a mistake, everything was a mistake,” said Green, adding that she will continue to fight for what she sees as justice in the case.