Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Le'den Boykins
Age : 12
Gender : Male
Race : Black
Date : 09/10/2021
Location : Georgia Highway 92 near Indian Trail Drive
City : Hiram
County : Paulding
State : Georgia
Agency : Georgia State Patrol; Paulding County Sheriff’s Office
Officer(s) :David Peterson; Unk Myers
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash after Georgia State Patrol PIT maneuver
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 09/10/2021, 12-year-old Le’Den Boykins was killed when Georgia State Patrol Trooper David Peterson performed a PIT maneuver at approximately 87 mph on the Kia in which Le’Den was a backseat passenger. The vehicle left Georgia Highway 92, traveled down an embankment and rolled into a ditch. Le’Den was partially ejected and killed. Another child, the driver’s 14-year-old son, was also in the vehicle. A later AJC investigation identified Peterson by name and reconstructed the pursuit from GSP internal-affairs records, pursuit critiques, dispatch recordings and dashcam video.
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The encounter began at approximately 1 a.m. when Peterson stopped the Kia after observing it speeding on Bethel Church Road. Peterson subsequently reported smelling alcohol and observing that the driver had bloodshot eyes. Le’Den was not the driver and was not suspected of any offense.
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The traffic stop became confrontational after the driver did not fully lower his window and asked for a supervisor. Peterson called for backup, and three Paulding County deputies arrived. One deputy, identified by the Boykins family from police records as Unk Myers, broke the driver’s window while officers attempted to remove the driver from the Kia. The driver then drove away, and Peterson and the deputies pursued.
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The pursuit proceeded through residential areas and onto larger roads, at times exceeding 95 mph. The driver called 911 during the pursuit. Dispatch recordings established that Paulding County personnel learned children were inside the fleeing Kia.
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Paulding deputies began coordinating a plan to box the Kia in and force it to slow. Peterson, however, was operating on a different radio frequency and was not communicating directly with the deputies. A Paulding dispatcher contacted the GSP dispatcher by telephone specifically to determine whether Peterson knew children were in the vehicle. The GSP dispatcher said Peterson did not.
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As dispatchers attempted to relay that information, the pursuit entered a construction zone and speeds exceeded 100 mph. Before the information about the children reached Peterson, he performed the PIT maneuver. Later investigation determined the PIT occurred at approximately 87 mph. The Kia went down an embankment and overturned, ejecting Le’Den. Immediately afterward, Peterson radioed, “PIT successful.”
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Peterson later maintained that he had not known children were inside. He told investigators that during the initial stop he could not clearly identify the front-seat passenger and could not see anyone in the back because of the Kia’s window tint. His internal-affairs account stated that his attention had remained focused on the driver.
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Le’Den’s family disputed that account. Their attorney, Lee Merritt, said officers had stood immediately beside the Kia, shined lights inside and had ample opportunity to observe both children before the pursuit. The family also pointed to the 911 and dispatch communications establishing that law enforcement knew children were present while the pursuit was underway.
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GSP conducted an internal investigation and pursuit critique. Peterson’s supervisor determined that his conduct was largely within GSP policy. Peterson received coaching for approaching a vehicle when he could not see its rear seat, failing to fully communicate his actions during the pursuit and inaccurately identifying an observed traffic violation, rather than a suspicious driver, as the reason for the initial stop. He was not disciplined for performing the fatal PIT.
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The driver was criminally prosecuted for Le’Den’s death. In May 2023, he pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide and aggravated assault on an officer and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He apologized to Le’Den’s parents during sentencing. Murder charges originally brought against him were resolved through the plea.
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Le’Den’s parents, Toni Franklin and Anthony Boykins, continued seeking accountability from the officers and argued that the pursuit should have been de-escalated rather than terminated with a high-speed PIT. They called for criminal charges against Peterson and the Paulding County officers and sought appointment of a special prosecutor.
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Franklin and Boykins subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against Peterson and the Georgia Department of Public Safety arising from Le’Den’s death. By December 2024, state attorneys were seeking dismissal while the family continued challenging Peterson’s decision to perform the PIT.
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A major 2024 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation of GSP pursuits obtained and analyzed thousands of agency pursuit critiques and internal-affairs records. It found that GSP performed more than 2,000 PIT maneuvers from 2019 through 2023 and linked PITs to 19 deaths during that period; nine of those killed were passengers. Most GSP pursuits involving PITs began over traffic infractions.
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The AJC found that GSP policy imposed no maximum speed for PIT maneuvers, did not prohibit PITs when children or other passengers were present, did not require supervisors to participate in the critical PIT decision and permitted pursuits even when a driver could potentially be identified and arrested later. The investigation found GSP performed PITs at speeds exceeding 100 mph.
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The same investigation found that GSP’s internal review process rarely found fault with troopers’ decisions to perform PIT maneuvers, including fatal PITs. Half of GSP pursuits analyzed ended in crashes, and GSP terminated only 17% of pursuits during the five-year period reviewed.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
David Peterson was the Georgia State Patrol trooper who performed the PIT maneuver that killed Le’Den Boykins. GSP records show Peterson graduated from the 108th Trooper School in May 2020 and was assigned to Post 29 in Paulding County, making him a relatively new trooper when Le’Den was killed in September 2021.
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Le’Den’s fatal pursuit was only Peterson’s second pursuit as a state trooper. Despite the death of a 12-year-old passenger during an approximately 87-mph PIT, GSP’s pursuit critique concluded that Peterson had demonstrated good driving and decision-making. He received coaching for three other issues but was not disciplined for the PIT itself.
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Peterson’s internal account stated that he had not recognized either passenger as a child and had not seen Le’Den in the back seat. Dispatch records independently establish that Paulding County personnel knew children were in the Kia and were attempting to transmit that information to GSP, but Peterson’s radio was on a different frequency and the warning did not reach him before he performed the PIT.
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Unk Myers was identified by Le’Den’s family from Paulding County records as the officer who broke the Kia’s window immediately before the driver left the traffic stop. Three Paulding County deputies participated in the encounter and subsequent pursuit.
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The later AJC investigation found GSP to be an outlier among state patrol agencies in its permissive PIT policy. Of 44 state-police pursuit policies examined, 21 imposed high-speed restrictions and/or required supervisory involvement that GSP did not require. Ten prohibited pursuits for traffic infractions, while GSP allowed both pursuits and PIT maneuvers arising from traffic offenses.
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GSP’s PIT practices continued producing fatalities after Le’Den’s death. The AJC documented 19 deaths associated with GSP PIT maneuvers over the five-year period from 2019 through 2023, including nine passengers, and found that troopers rarely received discipline after fatal PITs.
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In 2026, a separate Georgia Department of Public Safety internal investigation exposed additional misconduct involving GSP PITs. Troopers Hunter Waters, Tyler Byrd and Isaiah Francois were fired after investigators found they sought personal-injury insurance settlements following pursuits in which they intentionally struck vehicles as part of PIT or other pursuit-termination maneuvers. Supervisor Joseph Curlee was also fired after investigators found he knew of the practice, failed to report it and attempted to participate himself. Those troopers were not involved in Le’Den’s death.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/01/advocates-speak-out-after-recent-deadly-police-pursuits-in-metro-atlanta/
https://atlantablackstar.com/2023/01/16/there-are-kids-in-the-car-family-of-12-year-old-killed-during-high-speed-chase-wants-officers-held-accountable-for-violating-pit-maneuver-policy/
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/leden-boykins-gsp-pit-maneuver-chase-crash-paulding-county
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/charlie-moore-bond-hearing-georgia-state-patrol-pit-maneuver-ledan-boykins-death
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/leden-boykins-clayton-county-trooper-crash
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/man-gets-15-years-for-fleeing-troopers-in-paulding-12-year-old-killed-in-crash/6OFRBGM7AFDZZGYX2XSECQJEGM/
https://www.ajc.com/news/investigations/chases-unchecked-gsp-high-speed-pits-lead-to-death-across-georgia/IGGP2EMTCVAUFNORUBVKF5SWQE/
https://dps.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-05-14/georgia-state-patrol-graduates-its-108th-trooper-school
https://www.wtoc.com/2026/04/17/pit-pay-georgia-troopers-financially-profited-pursuits-they-initiated-investigation-finds/
https://www.wtoc.com/2026/05/25/four-georgia-state-patrol-troopers-fired-filing-injury-claims-after-pit-maneuvers/
