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Jamaree Keyes

Age : 38

Gender : Male

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 : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/19/2022, 38-year-old Jamarae Keyes 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 Keyes and 35-year-old Janisha Janay Harris were traveling at Manchester Avenue and South Broadway in South Los Angeles. Keyes and Harris were uninvolved in the police encounter and were returning home from work.
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The police 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 to stop it for speeding. The Cadillac continued driving away while police followed. Although investigators later connected the four people in the Cadillac to burglaries in Camarillo and Moorpark, the initiating reason for the police stop was the officers' observation that the Cadillac was speeding.
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Dash-camera footage showed the police vehicle following the Cadillac at high speed for approximately 80 seconds. Officers turned off their emergency lights and siren only seconds before the collision. LAPD subsequently characterized the formally designated pursuit as lasting 15 seconds before officers disengaged.
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The Cadillac entered Manchester Avenue and South Broadway against a red light at high speed and struck the BMW occupied by Keyes and Harris. Their BMW was pushed into a semitruck as part of the resulting multi-vehicle collision. Both Keyes and Harris were killed.
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LAPD initially publicly maintained that there had been no pursuit. The department later reversed that position after further review of the evidence. An LAPD police report acknowledged that officers from the 77th Street Station had pursued the Cadillac, contradicting the department's initial public description of the incident.
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The contradiction became a major issue for the victims' families. Keyes's widow, Tanya Keyes, and attorneys representing both families demanded release of the police recordings and accused LAPD of concealing its role in the events leading to the crash. Police Chief Michel Moore subsequently ordered release of the recordings.
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The released dash-camera footage showed the police vehicle traveling behind the Cadillac at high speed and officers shutting off their lights and siren only seconds before the Cadillac entered the intersection and struck the victims' BMW. The families maintained that turning off the emergency equipment immediately before impact did not meaningfully end the pursuit or eliminate the danger it had created.
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Keyes left behind his wife and children. His family and Harris's family subsequently announced plans to pursue wrongful-death claims against LAPD and the City of Los Angeles, arguing that the officers' decision to engage in the high-speed pursuit contributed to the deaths.

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/