One of the youths in a Jeep with a 16-year-old girl fleeing from police when officers fatally shot her says the whole incident was a blur and he didn’t even realize at the time she had been harmed.
The youth, who was under 18 at the time and cannot be identified, said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time and couldn’t remember many details.
His testimony came Tuesday in the second week of an inquest into the death of Eishia Hudson, who died in 2020 in a chase involving Winnipeg police.
The teen told the inquest that Eishia panicked when she realized police officers were following the Jeep after a liquor store robbery.
The inquest has heard Eishia was driving the vehicle and that some people she was with went into a store, took bottles and cases of liquor, and threatened to stab a security guard.
The youth said he remembers crashing into a parked truck and waking up at the police station, where his lawyer told him Eishia had died.
The inquest has already heard from several officers involved in the subsequent chase and shooting.
Police Const. Kyle Pradinuk testified he fired two shots at Eishia because he believed fellow officers could have been hit by the moving Jeep.
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The inquest is examining whether the use of force was appropriate and if systemic racism played a role, because the robbery suspects were identified as Indigenous.
An agreed statement of facts presented at the inquest says a store employee reported the theft to police and described the suspects as Indigenous youth between the ages of 15 and 18.
Court heard two officers tried to pull over the Jeep in a residential area, and the vehicle made contact with or rammed their cruiser.
Police followed the vehicle through a shopping area in the southeast end of the city, and it sped off down a major road. Officers set up a blockade at an intersection, where the Jeep jumped over a boulevard and crashed into a parked truck.
Pradinuk testified he fired his gun as he believed the vehicle was moving toward other officers.
Cellphone video from a witness, repeatedly played in court, appears to show the Jeep backing away from officers.
The girl’s death sparked protests and calls for a public inquiry into police-related deaths of Indigenous people after Manitoba’s police watchdog recommended Pradinuk not face criminal charges.
Inquests don’t assign blame, but Judge Margaret Wiebe can issue recommendations to help prevent similar deaths.
Love the bottles or ciroc and fireball. Were those the one’s they stole?