When Curtis Deal was arrested for the third time in a single month on drug and weapon charges the prosecuting judge was adamant the 18-year-old would learn his lesson.
Releasing him with a strict curfew so that he could attend school and wait for his trial, Judge Taylor told Deal he would not be allowed to go out, see his girlfriend, or go for food, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“I’m giving you an opportunity to go to school and not be in jail pending this trial. The curfew is 1 p.m., 7 days a week,” she told him. A fair ultimatum for the frequent offender.
At 3pm the next afternoon Deal was shot dead by Baltimore police officer, David Kincaid Jr, with the fatal incident captured on the officer’s bodycam.
In the harrowing video, which begins shortly after Deal allegedly jumped out of a vehicle that was being tailed by officers and ran away, a police officer can be seen sprinting after him.
As Kincaid makes ground on Deal, the suspect can be seen taking a gun out of his pocket and lifting it up towards the officer. At this point, Kincaid fires numerous shots – hitting Deal in the abdomen, hip and finger. Deal died of his injuries.
Warning: Graphic Footage
In the aftermath of the shooting, Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said it was ‘justified’, voicing his pride in Officer Kincaid, before slamming Judge Taylor for her decision to let Deal out.
He told the Baltimore Sun:
I expect police officers to chase people who bail out of cars with guns. [Judge Taylor’s decision was wrong] we could very well be planning a police funeral right now.
Mayor Catherine Pugh, said:
It shows dysfunction, I believe, in our criminal justice system. People who have those many gun charges probably should not be on our streets.
Sickeningly there has been more than one killing every day in Baltimore thus far this year.
