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Home • News

NYPD Killed Black Man In 2019 After He Was Locked Out Of His Apartment And Called For Help. Officers Still Haven't Been Charged

The officers who shot and killed Kawaski Trawick are not receiving disciplinary charges after a judge says the statute of limitations passed.
NYPD Killed Black Man In 2019 After He Was Locked Out Of His Apartment And Called For Help. Officers Still Haven't Been Charged
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 28: People gather for a rally for Kawaski Trawick at One Police Plaza on September 28, 2023 in New York City. Various organizations and community members gathered at NYPD headquarters calling for Commissioner Edward Caban to fire the officers who killed Kawaski Trawick. A draft report from the NYPD’s head of administration suggested dismissing charges against officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis who are accused of tasing and shooting 32-year-old Trawick four times within 112 seconds after entering his home in a supportive housing building. The report faults the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) for not filing the misconduct charges against the officers until after the statute of limitations for doing so had expired. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
By Rayna Reid Rayford · Updated October 16, 2023

Family members of Kawaski Trawick are calling for justice after a judge dismissed disciplinary charges against two police officers who killed him in 2019, holding that the time period for them to be disciplined had passed.

When 32-year-old Kawaski Trawick got locked out of his Bronx apartment in the middle of cooking dinner in April 2019, he called 911. Firefighters arrived first on the scene and let Trawick back into his apartment. A few minutes later, Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis arrived on the scene.

“Within 112 seconds, the officers opened his door from the hallway, saw that Trawick was holding a bread knife near his stove, then tased and shot him during a verbal altercation in which the officers failed to de-escalate the situation,” reports LGTBQ news outlet Them. Devastatingly, the shots would prove to be fatal.

Afterward, “the Civilian Complaint Review Board [(CCRB)], the independent civilian agency tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct against members of the NYPD, had substantiated misconduct against both officers.” The CCRB even recommended that they be dismissed from the police force.

Instead, in 2020, the two officers “were cleared…of criminal wrongdoing, but the review board brought administrative charges of assault, unlawful entry and unlawful use of force against Officer Thompson,” per The New York Times. Officer Davis was charged with failure to render aid in addition to trespassing.  

In a decision handed down September 20 of this year, Rosemarie Maldonado, the deputy commissioner of trials, argued for the charges to be dismissed. Maldonado cited that it was too late since the board waited five months to file, which was after the statute of limitations had passed.

Why was there such a delay? According to the CCRB, the Bronx District Attorney’s office wanted the board to wait until their prosecutorial team had concluded their criminal investigation. The DA’s office in turn blamed the police, who they said NYPD took “19 months to hand over evidence, including footage from the officers’ body cameras.”

Last week, Kawaski’s mother, Ellen Trawick, joined advocates at a rally near City Hall to protest. She told the crowd, “Kawaski came here to New York in 2019 to pursue a dream… He wanted to dance. But instead, Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis took his life.”

Ms. Trawick continued, “The NYPD is trying to blame the CCRB, saying that the CCRB didn’t meet the time, but that’s not true,” adding, “They held all the evidence they needed to prosecute these officers,” Them reported.

Currently, NYPD is refraining from issuing any statements, stating that the “disciplinary process remains ongoing.” Police Commissioner Edward Caban will ultimately make the final decision on whether the officers will be disciplined.

TOPICS:  LGBTQ NYPD police shooting