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Janisha Janay Harris

Age : 35

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/19/2022

Location : Manchester Avenue and South Broadway

City : Los Angeles

County : Los Angeles

State : California

Agency : LAPD

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/19/2022, 35-year-old Janisha Janay Harris was killed when a speeding Cadillac being pursued by Los Angeles Police Department officers ran a red light and crashed into the BMW in which Harris and 38-year-old Jamarae Keyes were traveling at Manchester Avenue and South Broadway in South Los Angeles. Harris and Keyes were uninvolved in the police encounter and were on their way home from work.
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The encounter began at approximately 4:15 a.m. when officers from LAPD's 77th Street Station observed a Cadillac traveling at high speed and attempted a traffic stop for speeding. The Cadillac continued driving away while police followed. Although the people inside the Cadillac were later linked to burglaries in Camarillo and Moorpark, the LAPD's account indicates that officers initially attempted to stop the vehicle because they observed it speeding, not because they were then pursuing it for those burglaries.
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Dash-camera video later showed the police vehicle following the Cadillac at high speed for approximately 80 seconds. The officers eventually turned off their emergency lights and siren, but did so only seconds before the fatal collision. LAPD separately stated that the formally designated pursuit lasted 15 seconds before officers disengaged.
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The Cadillac continued at high speed and entered the intersection of Manchester Avenue and South Broadway against a red light, striking the BMW occupied by Harris and Keyes. The impact pushed their vehicle into a semitruck and produced a multi-vehicle collision. Harris and Keyes were both killed.
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The Cadillac contained four people. Three were taken into custody following the crash. Police identified the driver as 20-year-old Matthew Sutton, who fled on foot after the collision but was subsequently arrested. LAPD later reported that Sutton had an active burglary warrant and that the four people in the Cadillac were implicated in a series of burglaries in Camarillo and Moorpark.
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LAPD initially publicly denied that a police pursuit had occurred. After additional review, however, an LAPD report acknowledged that officers had pursued the Cadillac. The department's own collision report stated that the 77th Street patrol unit had been in pursuit, while LAPD subsequently maintained that officers disengaged shortly before the collision.
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The discrepancy generated accusations from Harris's and Keyes's families that LAPD had attempted to minimize its role in the deaths. After demands from the families and their attorney, Police Chief Michel Moore ordered release of the dash-camera and body-worn-camera footage. The video showed the high-speed police pursuit and that the emergency lights and siren were turned off only seconds before the crash.
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Harris was the mother of two children. Her family and Keyes's family subsequently announced plans for wrongful-death litigation against LAPD and the City of Los Angeles, alleging that the police pursuit contributed to the collision that killed them.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-31/lapd-pursuit-police-shut-lights-off-only-5-seconds-before-crash
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/lapd-admits-crash-that-killed-2-innocent-victims-occurred-during-police-pursuit/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-26/officers-were-chasing-motorist-at-time-of-deadly-crash-lapd-report-says
https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/traffic-collision-investigation-nr22245km/
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/families-of-2-innocent-victims-killed-amid-lapd-pursuit-to-sue-department-and-city/