Family Will Sue After Black Woman Who Called 911 to Report Domestic Disturbance Was Killed by Police

Niani Finlayson's lawyer says she was sitting down when she was fatally shot

A 27-year-old Black woman was shot and killed after calling 911 to report a domestic disturbance, and now her family has filed a $30 million claim against the Los Angeles County and the Sheriff’s Department alleging wrongful death and civil rights violations.

On Dec. 4, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call at an apartment in Lancaster at about 6 p.m, the LASD said in a statement.

Niani Finlayson had called for help because a man allegedly refused to leave the apartment, police said, Fox 11 reports.

"When responding deputies arrived on scene, they witnessed a domestic disturbance between a male and female," the LASD said in the statement.

"The female was armed with a large kitchen knife," the LASD statement said. "The female made verbal threats indicating she was going to harm the male with the knife. When the female approached the male with the knife, a deputy involved shooting occurred. 
 
"Only one deputy was involved in the shooting and a knife was recovered at the scene," the statement said.

Finlayson was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Deputy Ty Shelton was identified as the deputy who shot and killed Finlayson, the Los Angeles Times reports.

On Wednesday, attorney Brad Gage, the lawyer for Finlayson’s family, filed a claim against Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — a precursor to a lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reports.

At a press conference, Thursday, Gage said, “Niani had been given a knife to try to protect herself from this man that was accused of attacking her," the Antelope Valley Press reports.

The claim, which was reviewed by PEOPLE, alleges Finlayson had called 911 because the man was strangling her and hurt her 9-year-old daughter. (It's not clear if the man has been charged with a crime in connection with the incident.)

“After the shooting, the [man] told the Deputies there was no reason for them to shoot Niana. The response? Beat up the [man],” the claim alleges.

“While some may believe that the [man] ‘got what he deserved,’ Deputies are not allowed to needlessly kill women and they are not allowed to engage in vigilante justice,” it said. “No one is above the law.”

In the claim, Gage states that “this is allegedly not Deputy Shelton’s first killing. Yet he remains a member of the Sheriff’s Department with no known punishment.”

According to the claim, Finlayson was “sitting on the ground, not threatening anyone when deputies opened fire from behind a glass door, shooting her in the back four times.

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“Niani did not die immediately. She called for help and cried out in pain. Her 9-year-old witnessed the entire murder and her mother’s suffering.”

In a statement emailed to PEOPLE, the LASD said, “The Department has not officially received this claim but takes all deputy-involved shootings seriously. In the effort of transparency, the Department will be releasing the body-worn camera footage of the incident by next week, which is earlier than the required timeframe.

“With any deputy-involved shooting there is a robust review process, which includes the Office of Inspector General, where every aspect of the shooting is thoroughly examined and evaluated to see if Department policies and procedures were followed.

"Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Justice System Integrity Division, conducts a legal analysis to determine whether any criminal charges will be filed and if the shooting was legally justified. The Department is deeply committed to protecting our diverse communities without bias and prejudice.”

In a GoFundMe set up for Finlayson’s children, the organizer wrote that the young mother “called 911 for help and ended up shot dead in her home in front of her ... daughter by LASD."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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