The parents of a Georgia woman who died after falling from a moving patrol car after her arrest fought back tears on Friday as they demanded answers over their daughter’s death.
Brianna Grier, 28, suffered critical injuries July 15 and died July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said this week that deputies who put Grier in the back of a patrol car to take him to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office failed to close the rear passenger-side door before leave.
“What we’re trying to do, we’re trying to get answers about what really happened. That’s all we want to know. We’re not trying to get off to a smooth start,” Marvin Grier, Brianna’s father, tearfully told a press conference, his voice echoing repeatedly. He was joined by Brianna’s mother and sister, Mary and Lottie Grier.
Grier was arrested after Hancock County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in Sparta, the GBI said. Deputies put Grier in the back of a patrol car, but she was not wearing a seatbelt, her hands were cuffed in front of her and the rear passenger-side door was never closed, GBI investigators say. .
The GBI did not say why deputies were called home or why Grier was arrested. Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents her family, said Grier was arrested after a mental health crisis.
“Once again, we have another African-American citizen killed in an incredible manner while in police custody,” Crump said at Friday’s news conference in downtown Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta.
He addressed Grier’s parents: “We won’t let them sweep your little girl’s death under the rug.”
Crump said his team will investigate the malfunctions that caused Grier to fall out of the car as she was moving and suffered a fatal brain injury that left her in a coma until her death six days later.
Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, called on state and county officials to get answers.
“To the Sheriff of Hancock County, it’s time to be transparent. It is time to be accountable. At the GBI, it’s time for all of you to meet this family. To the governor, it’s time for you to acknowledge, once again, that Georgia has a police accountability problem,” he said.
The GBI said officers conducted interviews, reviewed multiple body camera videos and performed mechanical tests on the patrol car. The investigation is ongoing.
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Brumback reported from Atlanta.
The Independent Gt