SEATTLE — A crowd gathered to mark three years since Seattle Police shot and killed Charleena Lyles in her apartment. The group said the country is finally paying attention to their cries for change.
“Everybody had to get to the place to where they were finally tired, and enough was enough, and we've finally gotten there,” said Katrina Johnson, Lyles’ cousin.
Seattle Police responded to a burglary call at Lyles' apartment near Magnuson Park on June 18, 2017, and said she advanced on them with a knife. Officers opened fire on Lyles, who was pregnant, killing her in front of her children.
Johnson said the agony never goes away.
“Every time you see another killing, it just happens to you all over again,” she said.
After a surge of anger, ignited by the death of George Floyd, Johnson said the nation, too, is now in anguish.
“It's not just families yelling and screaming for justice, it’s everybody in every city,” she said.
Lyles' family is demanding the City of Seattle cut funding to the police department and reinvest in the community.
They're also calling on Mayor Jenny Durkan to resign. They said she told them that she would make meaningful changes to policing after Lyles’ death, but they said they're still waiting.
“Originally, I was for Jenny Durkan, but when you lie to me, and you lie to my family, and we're out here still unable to grieve, and still fighting, I can't do that,” Johnson said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Durkan said "the City has so much healing and work to do - that is where Mayor Durkan will continue to spend her focus in the coming days, weeks and months ahead."
Durkan's office said the mayor is committed to a thorough review of SPD's budget, and she plans to invest $100 million in Black communities.
“The Mayor believes that we need to reimagine what policing looks like in Seattle, and in cities across the country. It’s clear that not every 9-1-1 call requires a law enforcement presence; we need to ensure that those in crisis are met by a mental health counselor, or those in a heated argument have access to a conflict resolutions specialist. These solutions come from community-based organizations already doing the work, not law enforcement,” Durkan’s spokesperson said.