Dequince Brown, girlfriend of a man killed by a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy, was released from jail Tuesday.
As reported by NOLA.com, Brown was arrested last week for attempted second-degree murder of a police officer. The District Attorney Trent Brignac says Brown was released Tuesday from the Evangeline Parish jail after a judge set her bond at $75,000.
Police allege Brown jumped on the Deputy Paul Holden LaFleur’s back, bit him and tried to grab his gun. Brown’s lawyer, Joe Long claims Brown only jumped on the officer after LaFleur shot her boyfriend Dejuan Guillory.
Guillory, 27, was killed after a confrontation during a traffic stop. Guillory and Brown were riding a four-wheeler in Mamou with plans to go “frogging”, catching frogs with their bare hands. LeFleur was responding to the report theft of a four-wheeler before he stopped the vehicle Guillory was driving.
According to NY Daily News, Brown said LaFleur asked her and Guillory for ID. LaFleur reportedly got angry when they claimed they didn’t have any identification. LaFleur then ordered Guillory over to his car where they got into a verbal argument and things turned physical.
Reports vary on what happened next.
According to the police report, Guillory struck LaFleur in the head knocking him to the ground. The deputy drew his gun and ordered Guillory and Brown to the ground. Guillory began to struggle with LaFleur when he tried to handcuff him.
It was then when police allege Brown attacked the deputy.
“During the struggle, Brown approached (the deputy) from behind. Brown jumped on his back and placed her arm around his neck, punching him, pulling his hair, and attempting to grab his gun.” The report also claims Brown said, “We are going to kill him.”
But Brown’s attorney claims the officer shot Guillory while they both on the ground.
They were both on the ground. Guillory was on the ground, on his belly, his hands behind his back, and the officer had a gun trained at Guillory’s back. They were still arguing back and forth but Guillory was on the ground as directed. All of a sudden, a shot rang out and Brown knew Guillory had been shot,” Long said. It was then, Long claims, when Brown jumped on the officer’s neck to stop him from shooting.
During the altercation, LaFleur dropped his police radio. Brown used the police radio to call for help. Long said Brown never saw paramedics perform CPR on Guillory.
Evangeline Parish had been under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights complaints. The DOJ concludedthat the sheriff’s office routinely used unconstitutional holds to arrest and jail hundreds of. The people arrested were often strip-searched, held in cells without basic necessities like toilets, showers and beds. They were often detained for three days without a chance to speak with family or contest their arrests.