Drug War Victims
Lives and freedom lost in the crossfire of the war on drugs
Justin De Sha Overcash
Justin DeSha-Overcash’s death was a result of marijuana prohibition policies that actually put young people in more danger than a system of legalization and regulation. DeSha-Overcash, 22 years-old, had a bright future ahead and was slated to graduate in June with a degree in physics and astronomy. The police blamed him for his own death, calling him a “drug dealer” because marijuana was found at his home.
Payton & Chase
July 29, 2008 — These two Labrador retrievers, were killed by Prince George’s County Police officers who broke into a house to seize of a package of marijuana the sheriff’s had just delivered to the home. The package had been addressed to the wife of Cheye Calvo, Mayor of Berwyn Heights. The police knew of a method of delivery of marijuana in which smugglers addressed packages full of marijuana to a random home, then “steal” the package they had arranged to be delivered. They assumed this was the case without a proper investigation, and broke into the house and killed the two dogs.
Jose Guerena, 26
Jose was killed at the hands of a Pima County, Arizona SWAT team just after 9 a.m. May 5, 2011. Guerera, Marine who served two tours in Iraq, had just gone to bed after working a 12-hour shift at a local mine when his home was invaded as part of a multi-house crackdown. Deputies said they seized a "large sum of money from another house" that morning. But they refused to say from which of the homes searched that morning they found narcotics, drug ledgers or drug paraphernalia.
Cheryl Miller
Cheryl, a sufferer of Multiple Sclerosis, was denied Medicinal Cannabis as a treatment for her condition. Her symptoms worsened and she continued to be denied the medicine she needed, until she succumbed to complications from MS in 2003. Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey
Rachel Hoffman
Police caught Hoffman with pot but promised to drop charges if she agreed to go undercover in a drug bust. She was killed soon afterward. Read more about the tragedy here: http://ssdp.org/action/remember-rachel-hoffman
Jonathan Ayers
Reverend Jonathan Ayers was shot and killed in 2009 by undercover police officers during a sting operation. A Baptist minister from Lavonia, Georgia, Rev. Ayers had just dropped off a parishioner suspected of dealing, whom he was attempting to counsel through drug problems. Undercover officers stopped his vehicle at a nearby gas station in Toccoa, Georgia. The officers did not identify themselves properly, and Ayers assumed he was being robbed. In attempting to escape, his car clipped one of the officers and shots were fired in response, fatally wounding Rev. Ayers. No trace of narcotics or illegal substances were found in Rev. Ayer’s car or his body.
Derek Hale
Derek Hale, a veteran of two tours in Iraq, was tasered, shot and killed by Wilmington Police in 2006. Hale was a member of the Pagan Motorcycle Club in Delaware, which was known for sponsoring the “Toys for Tots” run every year. The club was the target of investigation by police and Hale was personally targeted for surveillance. Hale was house-sitting for a fellow club member when he was approached on the steps of the house by 8-12 undercover police officers. He was tasered three times, then shot at point blank range, all while verbally stating that he was attempting to comply with the officers’ demands.
Kathryn Johnston
Kathryn, an 88 years old living in Atlanta, Georgia, was shot by plainclothes police as they entered her home with a no-knock warrant after cutting the security bars. This warrant was obtained using fraudulent information as the basis for the narcotics raid. Ms. Johnston fired a warning shot, fearing a home invasion, and was shot multiple times in response. Drugs were later planted at the scene by police in an attempted cover up of the fraudulently obtained search warrant.
Gary & Sherri Burton
In May 2011, 69-year-old Gary Burton was sentenced to 60 days in in Medina County Jail, 30 days house arrest and two years of probation for growing two marijuana plants. Burton was growing the marijuana to help ease the pain his wife had been going through as she fought breast cancer. Sherri Burton has to postpone her surgery scheduled for June, because of her husband’s jail sentence.
http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-busted-for-pot-txt,0,6415609.story
Jacqueline Patterson
“My kids and I were homeless in 2007 because of the drug war and anti-cannabis policies. and I lost custody of my son jade because of it” Jacqueline Patterson is a medical cannabis patient advocate well known for her role in the Showtime film "In Pot We Trust". When the film aired, she and her children, having fled the Midwest for the relative safety of California, were living in a bedbug infested homeless shelter in Marin County. Out of alternatives, she sent her son, Jade, to spend the summer with his father, who used her status as a medical cannabis patient to gain sole custody and secure supervised visitation.
Cheryl Lynn Noel
44-year-old Cheryl Lynn Noel was shot and killed in a botched drug raid in Baltimore, MD in 2005. She thought her home was broken into and grabbed a gun. When Officers opened her bedroom door, they were met with Cheryl pointing the gun at them. One of the Officers fired three times, killing Cheryl. There wasn’t enough evidence to keep the rest of her family in custody, but Cheryl’s death serves as a reminder of innocent victims the War on Drugs takes every day. Her case was publicized by Drug Warrant and The Agitator.
Robin Prosser
Robin Prosser was a Montanan musician and mother who was using marijuana for medical purposes. She had systemic lupus, which caused severe nausea and chronic pain, and marijuana helped with these symptoms, as she was allergic to many prescription drugs. Police and prosecutors in the state attempted to charge her and put her in prison until Montanans voted overwhelmingly to allow medical marijuana in 2004. However, federal agents continued to go after her and effectively denied her necessary medicine. Unable to deal with the pain, Robin committed suicide in 2007.
Anthony Diotaiuto
Anthony Diotaiuto was killed by Police, after they received an anonymous tip that marijuana and cocaine was being sold at his home. Neighbors say the Police broke down his front door without identifying themselves. Not knowing the identity of the intruders, Anthony went for his legally owed handgun. The police shot him a total of 10 times in response to his action. Only a small amount of marijuana was found in his residence afterwards.
27 Decapitated in Petén by Paramilitary Drug Gang
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/05/16/guatemala-27-massacr.html
Bounmy Ousa
Mr. Ousa, a 60-year old father was killed by undercover narcotics officers in 2005. Ousa had gone out of his house to investigate a suspicious car parked in front of his house. Officers in the undercover police vehicle were conducting surveillance of a house down the street in preparation for a narcotics raid. While speaking with the officers, they claim Ousa appeared to reach behind his back. Assuming he was reaching for a weapon, an Officer shot and killed him. They searched Ousa’s house and retrieved a flashlight, which they claimed Ousa had pulled out of his pants in a manner that threatened the police, justifying their actions.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635158077/Family-sues-over-killing-by-West-Valley-police.html
Michael Meluzzi
Michael Meluzzi was in the yard with several children when SWAT police pulled up in a van. Police threw several flashbang grenades despite the presence of children. Meluzzi ran after the the grenades went off and an officer began chasing him. The officer caught up to Meluzzi and tasered him. While Meluzzi was being tasered, the officer claims he reached quickly into his waistband giving the appearance of drawing a weapon. The officer fired on Meluzzi killing him on the spot. No weapon was found on Meluzzi or in his body’s vicinity.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20050710/NEWS/507100585?p=1&tc=pg
Trevon Cole
Treven Cole, a 21 year old, was shot and killed during a narcotics raid in June 2010. Cole was found by officer Yant in the bathroom disposing of some marijuana after the SWAT team busted down his door with a metal battering ram. Police said Cole made a “furtive movement” while crouching near the toilet and Yant opened fire as a result. No weapons were found on Cole or during the search. Officer Yant has twice before unjustifiably discharged his firearm, killing one person and wounding another.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/police-detective-who-shot--killed-man-friday-identified-96304914.html
Isaac Singletary
Isaac Singletary, an 80 year old man living in Jacksonville, Florida, was shot by undercover narcotics officers in 2007. Singletary lived in a poor neighborhood and often had to deal with drug dealers operating near his residence. He saw two individuals which engaging in illegal activity outside his home, so he emerged armed to scare them off. The two individuals he believed to be drug dealers were in fact undercover officers who demanded Singletary drop his weapon, then opened fire when he refused. He received multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby hospital. It is disputed as to whether or not the officers properly identified themselves.
Tarika Wilson
A single mother of six children, 26 year old Tarika Wilson lived in Lima, Ohio. Her boyfriend was under investigation by police for small-scale drug dealing. A SWAT team entered her home and found Tarika, unarmed and on her knees, holding her son and complying with the officers’ demands. They opened fire after being startled by Tarika’s pet dogs, killing her and wounding her 14-month old son. The officers involved were acquitted of misdemeanor charges, though the incident has caused racial tensions, as Lima has a high population of African-Americans, with an almost entirely Caucasian police force.
Patricia Spottedcrow
Patricia Spottedcrow, a 25 year old Oklahoma mother of four, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling $31 of marijuana to a police informant at her home. She was arrested for drug distribution and because Spottedcrow's children were in the home, an additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor was added. She had no previous criminal record. Patricia began serving her sentence on December 22nd 2010.
http://newsok.com/how-31-of-pot-gave-mom-a-10-year-prison-sentence/article/3542585#ixzz1ODzG7hhw
Delita Starr
Delita Starr, 50 year old Oklahoma woman (mother of Patricia Spottedcrow) handed down a 30 year suspended sentence for the same charges. It was her home that the sale which got Patricia in trouble took place in. Since the justice system is so empathetic, they allowed her to avoid jail time in order to look after her four grandchildren, whose mother is to serve 10 years for selling $31 of marijuana. She lives in near poverty and is being forced to pay nearly $9,000 in fines stemming from the incident.
In their home state of Oklahoma: For 14 of the past 15 years, Oklahoma has locked up more women per capita than any other state. More than 65 percent of the women in prison were convicted of nonviolent crimes and more than 85 percent leave behind children, whose care becomes the responsibility of a family member or the state. Taxpayers also pay a high price, as the cost of the operating the state's prison system has increased from $188 million in 1995 to more than $450 million.
Marisela Escobendo Ortiz
Ms. Ortiz was shot by cartel members outside of the governor of Chihuahua’s office building in December, 2010. She had been protesting the release of her daughter’s confessed killer by a Mexican court, and is believed to have been murdered in response to her protests. She and her daughter are unfortunate victims of the powerful Mexican Drug Cartels, whose funding comes primarily from the Black Market sales of marijuana in the United States.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/18/world/la-fg-mexico-mom-20101218
Corporal Ed Toatley. 37
Maryland State Police
Shot and killed in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 2000, working as part of an inter-agency task force "Safe Streets."
Alberto Sepulveda, 11
Modesto, CA — SWAT team officers on a federal narcotics sweep raided his parents' home. Police said the shooting was an accident.
Ashley Villarreal, 14
Killed by DEA when she drove away with a person authorities believed was their suspect (it wasn't).
Samuel R.Caldwell, 61
First American citizen to be convicted for selling marijuana. Served four years of hard labor in Leavenworth, died a year after release
Tom Crosslin
(1955 – 2001)
HempAid /Roach Roast
Rainbow Farm
Killed by DEA
Rolland "Rollie" Rohm
HempAid /Roach Roast
Rainbow Farm
Killed by DEA
Crystal Ickes, 27
Made to leave the methadone clinic after treatment and barely able to sign her name, she was also not allowed to stay in the parking lot. On her way home, she hit another car head-on and died. She left behind 3 young children. The man in the other car sustained permanent back injuries.
Ezekiel Hernandez
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5427538
Detective Jarrod Shivers, 34
SWAT
Chesapeake, VA Shivers, an eight-year police veteran, was shot while executing a drug search warrant at Ryan Frederick's home based on an informant's incorrect claim that Frederick was growing marijuana.
Sal Agro
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/09/michigan_marijuana_patient_dies_a_week_ after_gesta.php
He died a few days after his family suffered violent raids upon their homes and businesses in Ferndale, Michigan. Today is his wife's trial:
John Hartman
Ohio cannabis activist denied an organ transplant because he was a medical cannabis patient.
Veronica Bowers
an American missionary, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were shot and killed on April 20, 2001 in Peru, when Peruvians monitored by the CIA mistook them for drug smugglers. Her husband, Jim Bowers, and their son, Cory, survived.
The pilot of the small Cessna plane in which they were traveling, Kevin Donaldson, was able to crash-land the plane along the Amazon River despite his own wounds from the attack.
In early 1985, the DEA sent Kiki Camarena to work undercover in Mexico. His identity was discovered. He was kidnapped and tortured to death. Some of his DEA comrades have suffered the horror of listening to a recording made of his final agony.
See: Esequiel for the photo gallery and story of how he was killed in Redford, Texas.
