MONROE -- Two women are suing the Louisiana State Police for a fatal shooting of the father of their three collective children.
Audrena Smith and Denise Johnson-Nelson, on behalf of three minor children fathered by Erroll Johnson, decedent, filed a complaint on July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Monroe Division against the Louisiana State Police and some of its troopers, among other defendants, for wrongful death.
According to the complaint, on July 8, 2020, at approximately 1 a.m., Johnson was killed by multiple Louisiana State Troopers. Prior to the shooting on July 5, 2020, Defendant John Doe 1, an officer with a record of excessive force initiated a traffic stop on Erroll Johnson claiming that he violated some unknown traffic law on Interstate-20 in Calhoun, the suit says.
The complaint alleges that on that night, Johnson, a Black man, attempted to drive his vehicle to a well-lit area. Before he was able to make it to the well-lit area, a passenger, Hannah Coburn, a white female, phoned her dad or some other member of her family who is a law enforcement officer with either the local Sheriff’s office or Louisiana State Police to allege that Erroll Johnson was a threat, the suit says.
Hannah Coburn told Johnson that the police will “get him," the suit says. Upon stopping the vehicle, Coburn exited the vehicle, and Johnson became fearful after Doe 1 began firing his service weapon, the suit says.
Johnson fled on foot. Police made it publicly aware through the media they were in search of Johnson, who they found to be located at Red Roof Inn in Monroe three days later, the suit says. Johnson, who allegedly wanted to surrender to told police this through a phone call, ultimately was killed after police began shooting into the hotel room, the suit says.
Both women seek monetary compensation for damages. The women are represented by Dwayne Burrell of the Burrell Firm, LLC.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Monroe Division case number 3:21-cv-01960-TAD-KDM