BALTIMORE COUNTY — The family of the man that was shot and killed by police in Hunt Valley back in 2019 is filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Baltimore County and the officers involved.
In 2019, Baltimore County Police were sent to the Hunt Valley Towne Centre after 911 calls about a man with a knife.
Officers were told 31-year-old Jamaal Taylor had either assaulted or stabbed people at several stores before leaving the area on foot.
Officers caught up to Taylor a block away.
Body-worn camera footage shows officers asking him to drop his weapon. But ultimately they shot Taylor as he walked toward traffic.
MORE: Police release officers names, 911 tapes of deadly incident at Hunt Valley Towne Centre
Now, three years later, Taylor’s family is suing Baltimore County along with officers Tyler Wise and Chris Brocato who were involved in the shooting.
"Mr. Taylor was not disposable, he was a person with loved ones, people who cared for him with a history with a life with a future that was needlessly taken away from him," said James Sweeting III, attorney representing Jamaal Taylor's family.
Sweeting, who represents Taylor's family, says Taylor was walking away from the officers and posed no threat.
"There were sufficient officers to control the scene to corner him off and to exercise the proper police technique that could have avoided his death,"
He also says the officers could see Taylor was showing mental health issues, but didn't work toward a non-violent resolution.
"Any law enforcement or advanced law enforcement has certain units that deal with people in crisis that are exhibiting antisocial or behaviors that are reflective of mental health issues as Mr. Taylor was at the time of this incident," said Sweeting.
In 2020, the officers named in this lawsuit were given an award for valor in for how they handled this incident.
RELATED: Police shoot, kill suspect who allegedly stabbed five people at Hunt Valley Towne Centre
Inthis video, on the police department's Youtube page, officers describe what happened that day.
Body-worn camera footage also gives a visual description of Taylor walking with the weapon and officers responding with the gun.
The County has 21 days to respond to the complaint.
