The incident happened in February, and Deven Guilford tragically filmed his own deadly encounter on with his cell phone camera.
The ordeal began when Guilford flashed his lights at Sgt. Jonathan Frost to alert him that he had his high beams on, which could be dangerous for other drivers on the road. The Eaton County sergeant admitted to Guilford that two other drivers had flashed their lights at him, and that the lights were brand new, and likely too bright.
Even though Frost acknowledged the problem that Guilford was pointing out, he demanded the teenage driver’s license and registration. The teen flexed his rights and refused to provide Frost with the documents, as he had not broken any laws. The teenager then asked if he was being detained, which the sergeant confirmed that he was.
Several minutes into the encounter, which Guilford was filming, Frost yanked the teenager out of his vehicle and demanded that he get on the ground. The teenager attempted to continue filming the officer’s badge abuse, which infuriated Frost.
The sergeant then began tasing the teen, at which the video cuts off and only audio is recorded.
The video ends with the 17-year-old’s screams and the sound of the seven gunshots that ended the teenager’s life. The fatal shot was directly to Guilford’s head.
Sergeant Frost claimed the unarmed teenager got on top of him and punched him in the face after being tased, which made him “fear for his life.” The officer did have some cuts and bruises to his face, but it cannot be proved that they came from the teen.
The autopsy showed that Guilford had marijuana in his system, and he did not have his driver’s license with him.
Following the district attorney’s decision to not file charges against Frost, the Guildford family released a statement, saying:
“There was no reason or necessity for the officer to physically remove our son from the car without considering other options to avoid an unnecessary violent escalation. It must be also noted that Deven was not in possession (of) any weapon and emphatically told the officer that he was not armed. We also have serious concerns about whether the officer used unreasonable force against Deven under the circumstances.”
The family plans to file a lawsuit in federal court.
