Lawsuit filed by friend of Secoriea Turner's family targets former Atlanta mayor, police chief
Secoriea Turner was shot and killed on the 4th of July in Atlanta. (Atlanta Police Department)
ATLANTA - The family friend who was driving when an 8-year-old girl in the vehicle was shot and killed at the same site where Rayshard Brooks was killed in the summer of 2020 has filed a lawsuit against the former Atlanta mayor, police chief and many others.
Omar Ivery was driving Secoriea Turner and her mother on July 4, 2020, when they "encountered a makeshift roadblock on University Avenue" near a Wendy's restaurant "where armed individuals began walking towards the car," according to the lawsuit. Ivery said "one or more of the armed individuals immediately opened fire into the vehicle, with eight of those bullets piercing the car."
Secoriea, a rising third-grader at Kipp Ways Academy, was shot in the backseat. Ivery rushed Secoriea to Atlanta Medical Center, but her injuries were too severe. She died before any medical attention could be given.
The lawsuit names the city of Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant, Atlanta city council member Joyce Sheperd, Wendy's International and the company that owns the fast-food franchise as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges those named in the lawsuit allowed for the site surrounding the Wendy’s to turn into an "epicenter for protests, demonstrations, and violence, with little to no policing to keep the area under control" in the weeks following the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks by officers on June 12, 2020.
"Omar Ivery, Secoriea Turner, and Charmaine Turner are all victims of former Mayor Bottoms and APD's indifference to the community they took an oath to protect and serve, and they must all be held accountable for their omissions," said Sam Starks, Cochran Law Firm.
The lawsuit states Ivery, in addition to damage to property, suffered physical and emotional injuries. He is requesting a jury trial and seeking unspecified damages.
"Unfortunately, we had to refile Mr. Ivery’s suit in an effort to force the Defendants to finally take responsibility for this terrible tragedy. No one has the right to surrender a city block to violence. Mr. Ivery continues to lift the family of Secoriea Turner in prayer as the legal process continues," said Mawuli Mel Davis of the Davis Bozeman Law.
Secoriea Turner’s family filed a similar lawsuit in June 2021.
Julian Jamal Conley and Jerrion Amari McKinney
Julian Jamal Conley was charged with murder just two weeks after her death. Jerrion Amari McKinney was arrested in August 2021 and charged with murder, aggravated assault and gang charges. Both remain in the Fulton County Jail.