The cousin of An’Twan Gilmore said her family’s wounds are reopening at word a grand jury has indicted the D.C. police sergeant who shot and killed him in August 2021.
“It’s been devastating to go through holidays that we’d normally spend together, without him,” said LaShaunna Gilmore during a news conference Wednesday.
She described herself as An’Twan Gilmore’s cousin and confidant. She said their close-knit family is still feeling the pain of his killing.
“His nephew not being able to play football, not being able to see him,” LaShaunna Gilmore said. “Him not being able to call and say, ‘Hey, you cooking anything?’ Like, it’s been hard because he’s the ray of sunshine for our family,” Gilmore said.
LaShaunna Gilmore was joined by An’Twan Gilmore’s nephews, his sister, and friends at the news conference at the Cochran Firm in downtown D.C. to share their reaction to the charges against DC Police Sgt. Enis Jevric.
“The loss to the Gilmore family and to the District of Columbia should have been unimaginable,” said attorney Brian McDaniel. “It should have been unthinkable. But due to the seeming regularity with which Black and brown men and women are killed at the hands of law enforcement in our country, by those who are called to protect and serve unfortunately, a loss such as this is all too imaginable, all too thinkable.”
It’s difficult to have waited more than a year and a half for charges, and McDaniel said that was an intentional decision by Gilmore’s family who chose to see what action the justice system would take before speaking about their loss.
“We shouldn’t have to be here,” LaShaunna Gilmore said. “We never thought that this could be us. We’ve seen news stories, where this was other people but we never thought that it will be so close to home and so close to our family. So we’re hurt. And we’re just going to advocate for him until the end. We’re going to advocate for An’Twan forever,” she said.
When officers found GIlmore sleeping in his car on New York Avenue in Northeast D.C., they saw he had a gun tucked in his waistband. When they woke him up, startling the 27-year-old, he tried to drive away. Charging documents say that’s when Jevric shot Gilmore 10 times.
A magistrate judge released the 14-year D.C. Police veteran police department until his next hearing. He’s charged with second-degree murder, a weapons charge and a federal civil rights violation.
