NEW YORK (PIX11) – Four years after police shot and killed a man in the Bronx, an internal NYPD disciplinary trial against two officers began Monday.
Kawaski Trawick was shot and killed inside of his apartment on April 14, 2019, when police responded to a call at the address. Trawick had been locked out of his apartment in a Bronx supportive housing building. But by the time officers arrived, he had gotten back into his apartment.
Responding officers broke open the door to get inside and found Trawick holding a knife; he was reportedly cooking at the time. Officers ordered him to drop the knife. Officer Herbert Davis used a stun gun on Trawick. Officer Branden Thompson shot and killed him.
The NYPD released body camera footage and surveillance video of the incident. But the Bronx district attorney declined to bring criminal charges against the officers. However, the Civilian Complaint Review Board determined the officers should face NYPD disciplinary charges.
Emotions were high during the hearing Monday after the judge decided not to hear or rule on trespassing charges against the officers. Trawick’s family and friends want the officers fired.
“The roadblocks that the police are putting up are unacceptable. These two officers should be fired for killing Kawaski,” Trawick’s mother, Ellen, said.
Trawick’s parents traveled to New York City from Georgia to attend the Civilian Complaint Review Board disciplinary hearing.
“Kawaski did not commit a crime. Why those police officers went to his home and took his life like that, I don’t understand it,” Trawick’s father, Rickie, said.
During the hearing, the family could not watch the video that captured the last moments of their son’s life.
“This video is very disturbing to me. To see two officers take my son’s life for no reason when he wasn’t a threat to them at all,” said Ellen.
Supporters of the Trawick family say the bodycam videos show the officers were wrong.
Trawick was a personal trainer and dancer. His family has received support from other families who have lost a loved one at the hands of police, including Anthony Baez’s mother and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner.
“It’s a waiting game. It’s a game of chess and not checkers … stay the course,” Carr said.
