Two Police Involved Killings In Two Weeks in Gastonia North Carolina

Feb 20

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On February 7, 2015, 74-year old James Howard Allen was home recovering from heart surgery. Family members were concerned about his well-being. They had not been able to reach him and asked the police to make a welfare check. An officer arrived at the address, but there was no answer at the door.

The Gastonia Fire Department and Gaston Emergency Medical Services were asked to check on James’ house.  The Fire Department opened the back door and officers say that James was found holding a handgun pointed in the direction of the door. Officer Josh Lefevers, who was hired by the Gastonia Police Department in August 2012, fatally shot James. Lefevers is on administrative leave pending investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

In the second officer shooting in Gastonia in two weeks, 43-year old Betty Sexton called police to help her remove several people from her home. Gastonia Police Officer LaDoniqua Neely shot and killed Betty. Officer Neely has hired by the Gastonia Police in January 2012. She is now on administrative leave, pending investigation by the State Bureau of Investigations.

The Young Turks report on James Howard Allen

 

WCCB News Reports on Betty Sexton

 

Our condolences to the families. 

Butterfly_tears_by_Dandelion_lion

Posted on 02/20/2015, in Betty Sexton, Cases, Cops Gone Wild, James Howard Allen and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 25 Comments.

  1. mindyme62 | 02/20/2015 at 5:57 am

    😦

    It seems to be a death wish these days to call the police for family matters..

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  2. mindyme62 | 02/20/2015 at 6:05 am

    74 years old, and they lacked the skills to de-escalate the situation. What is wrong with our LEO sometimes? They instigated this situation. Now a man is dead who did nothing wrong.

    The lady with the ‘musket’… really, they felt threatened enough to KILL her? Shoot first, ask questions later, I hate the way our LEO operate these days.

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  4. cindy knoke | 02/20/2015 at 6:48 am

    Oh no…….How horrible~

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  5. towerflower | 02/20/2015 at 8:00 am

    I heard about Mr. Allen’s case shortly after it happened and I’m surprised at the time of night that it happened. The police showed up at around 10:30 pm and the fire department after 11:00 pm. At this time of the night, most elderly people are already in bed for the night.
    There has been no mention of whether or not Mr. Allen was hard of hearing, which also would have complicated the issue. So you have an elderly man, late at night and finds people breaking in the rear door of his home and they wonder why they are met with an armed homeowner?

    I’m wondering why they don’t limit their well-being visits to a better time of day. Is it because they are afraid of a catch-22?…..delay the call and the person might die waiting for the appropriate time?……go into a home at anytime of the day or night and possibly surprise the homeowner and be met with force? ….why didn’t they retreat the minute they saw the elderly man? So many questions.

    I tried to find out more information on Ms. Sexton’s case but it is still too new. Were the people in the home a threat to her?,…hence the call to 911 and grabbing a musket. But I wonder why she had a gun in her hand when the police arrived knowing they were on their way? A sister said she was in the process of putting it down when she was shot but I couldn’t find any reference if the sister was there at the time of the shooting.

    Another tragic loss with many questions. We need updates on these stories but I have a feeling they will fall into the cracks and won’t get much reporting.

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  6. Rachael | 02/20/2015 at 9:23 am

    Here is something local (I emailed you Xena) but I have not heard much on outside here:

    http://fusion.net/story/51683/police-say-they-cant-use-viral-video-of-pasco-shooting-as-evidence/

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    • Xena | 02/20/2015 at 2:32 pm

      Rachael,
      HA! It’s not up to the police to decide on whether a video can be used as evidence. That is for a person in a black robe to decide after hearing both sides argue their positions. However, before the person in a black robe can hear arguments and render a decision, the officers must be charged. In other words, the Pasco Police Dept. knows how to work the system for their advantage.

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    • Xena | 02/20/2015 at 6:00 pm

      Rachael, I received your email and apologize for not getting back with you. I’ve not been feeling well lately and am behind in so much. The cold weather is tiring too cause I’m wearing about 5 lbs of clothes just to take the dog outside. We got some snow today and are expecting more tomorrow, so I suppose I’ll lose another 2 inches to my waistline shoveling snow this weekend. 🙂

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  7. Rachael | 02/20/2015 at 9:25 am

    It has caused quite a sensation – on many levels – the over reaction by police, the excessive use of force, the fact that the person is an undocumented Hispanic person. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/us/police-killing-of-man-who-threw-rocks-is-reviewed-in-pasco-washington.html?_r=0

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  8. shyloh | 02/20/2015 at 9:50 am

    My Gosh! I can’t seem to wrap my head around this. It’s terrible!

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  9. Rachael | 02/20/2015 at 10:17 am

    Try wrapping your head around this then – it doesn’t work for “regular” citizens. For just us regular citizens, ignorance of the law is NOT an “excuse.” Someone tell me what is happening? How did the police get this much – whatever you want to call it?

    http://www.npr.org/2014/12/15/370995815/supreme-court-rules-traffic-stop-ok-despite-misunderstanding-of-law

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  10. racerrodig | 02/20/2015 at 10:26 am

    Unbelievable !!!! Betty complies and is putting the gun down and gets shot. A 74 year old man, maybe on sleeping pills, and pain meds since, well, that heart surgery, and he gets shot after the cops bang on the door than over an hour later, break THE BACK door down.Maybe he’s got poor visions and we’re relying on the shooting team for the tale. Like “…..we said were were the police” After all, the only other witness is dead and the shooting team benefits by lying.

    I’m thinking the roll call in the GPD has this line “………okay, all you new officers, stay safe and see how many you can waste…………we got your back”

    Prayers ~ ~ ~ ~

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    • Xena | 02/20/2015 at 2:28 pm

      Racer,
      2012 seems to have been a bad year for the Gaston Police Department to hire cops.

      Since Betty called for help to have people removed from her house, I suspect there are witnesses.

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  11. racerrodig | 02/20/2015 at 10:28 am

    Slightly off topic, but once again the NRA is back at it with more preposterous crap.

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  12. ladylove1120 | 02/20/2015 at 10:52 am

    Why is it that these officers shot on site? What happen to commands that they are taught saying “drop the weapon, put the gun down…etc?” It makes me not wanna call the police because protect and serve has become the new shoot to kill…Smh!

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    • Xena | 02/20/2015 at 2:09 pm

      Hey Ladylove1120. Good to see your fonts. As I understand it, some police officers do give the commands but not time for people to process them and react. James Allen no doubt heard the officer announce himself, but I suspect that at 10:30 p.m. the lights were off, he couldn’t see who was entering but STILL HELD OFF FROM firing his gun. Anyone can break down a door and say they are the police. At night, in the dark, innocent people need time to process what is happening visually, audibly and physically.

      That case really upsets me because I ask myself what I would have done had I been James. Upon hearing someone break down my door and say they are the police (and probably with a flashlight blinding me), my first thought would have been that WITH MY FIREARM, I say “Let me turn on a light.” Well, the cop didn’t give him time to say anything to MAKE SURE that it was a policeman. That cop might as well had been a burglar telling James to drop his gun.

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  13. Jackie Saulmon Ramirez | 02/20/2015 at 4:45 pm

    The officers were wrong to go to the house so late. It seems like the relatives should have gone over there to check if they really were concerned. How sad these needless deaths are. 😦

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  14. yahtzeebutterfly | 02/20/2015 at 5:15 pm

    So heartbreaking.

    May they rest in peace.

    Praying for their families.

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  16. supabutterfly | 02/21/2015 at 10:21 pm

    Really sad. I cannot believe they are still at it!!!!!!!!!!!!

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