GREENSBORO, N.C. — The mother of a teenager who was shot and killed by an officer during a traffic stop in Greensboro is filing a lawsuit, according to the attorney's office handling the case.
Attorneys said Wakita Doriety's 17-year-old son Nasanto Antonio Crenshaw was shot by an officer with the Greensboro Police Department while fleeing a traffic stop in August 2022.
“I never saw my child again until he was in a coffin. I didn’t see my child," said Doriety.
It happened in the 4900 block of West Market Street around 9 p.m. in a shopping plaza parking lot. Police said two other passengers were in the car -- a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. Officials said all the teenagers are from the Hope Mills and Fayetteville areas.
According to a release, the officer pulled over the driver for an undisclosed traffic violation and discovered the car was stolen.
Police said as the officer approached the car, the driver took off.
When the officer was able to stop the car again, police said several people ran from the car. Police said while the officer tried to detain other passengers, the driver hit the gas, hitting the officer's patrol car.
Police said the driver hit the gas again, and that's when the officer fired in the driver's direction. Police said the driver, 17 years old, died at the scene.
Crenshaws family and their attorneys are requesting that the name of the officer be released as well as the body camera footage be made public. Doriety as well as one of her attorneys, Chimeaka White was able to see the body camera footage back in September.
After that, the Crenshaw family attorneys said the judge over the case put a "Gag order" on the family to refrain from making public comments about the case.
WFMY reached out to GPD about an update on the investigation. The department said that this is an independent SBI investigation. GPD is still awaiting the conclusion of that. When that's complete, the investigation will be presented to the DA. That is when GPD would receive the investigative report.
Doriety is represented by national Civil Rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Chimeaka White. Daniels, who also represented the family of Andrew Brown Jr., the 42-year-old black man shot in the back of the head and killed by deputies in Elizabeth City, NC, says Crenshaw’s killing is hauntingly familiar to Brown’s death in April 2021.
"Once again we have another police officer killing another unarmed black male even though he posed absolutely no threat and was actually trying to flee,” Daniels said. “The only real difference here is that Andrew Brown Jr. was a grown man and Nasanto Crenshaw was a child.”
Pasquotank County officials announced a $3 million settlement in the federal lawsuit surrounding Brown’s death in June.
Attorney Daniels named off the claims:
“The claims are excessive force against the defendant, John Doe. We will identify him at some point. Also, the claims are wrongful death as well as assault and battery, where the City Of Greensboro is named as the defendant because the officer works for the City of Greensboro," Daniels said.
GPD said the officer involved has been placed on administrative duty since the day of the incident and remains on administrative duty, which is standard protocol.
GPD also explained why the officer's name, who was involved, hasn't been released.
"Interim Chief Biffle made the decision not to release the name of the officer when the incident happened. That determination was made based on a lot of factors, including the safety and well-being of the officer. If you remember, another officer received threats when she was falsely named in this incident.
Chief Thompson is in the process of developing a critical incident policy. Each chief has the discretion to make certain choices, those choices not defined by law. Releasing officers names would be a discretionary item. Whereas BWC is all determined by NC Law."
Teen killed by officer during traffic stop in Greensboro
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