MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — Treyh Webster’s mother, Georgette Sons, and her family are grieving Sunday as they try to search for answers and share their side of the story.
The family witnessed Treyh be shot and killed by police just three days ago.
“I’m going to miss my baby. They didn’t have to kill him, but they killed him in cold blood,” Sons said.
Mobile Police said early Thursday morning law enforcement came to the Webster home on Lakeview Drive to serve a search warrant.
Chalea Tisdale, the family attorney, said the family believes law enforcement did not knock or announce their presence, leading the family to think the officers were intruders.
“They were told to get the ‘F’ down and shut the ‘F’ up. That’s what they heard,” Tisdale said.
In a news conference on Thursday, Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste did not say whether or not officers knocked at the home. However, he says the officers did announce themselves.
“The officers did announce their presence. As a matter of fact, as I stated, when the officers made entry, the first subject they encountered stated that he heard the officers at the door, and he immediately recognized that it was law enforcement entering the residence. And he shouted out through the house multiple times ‘12, 12,’ which is an indication of law enforcement presence,” Chief Battiste said.
Battiste said as SWAT officers moved further into the home, Treyh shot at them. He said officers deployed a flashbang.
“The subject continued to fire shots at the law enforcement officers, and, subsequently, the SWAT team engaged the individual,” Battiste said.
Tisdale said family members don’t think that’s true. They don’t believe Treyh was armed.
“No one in the family believes Treyh came out with a gun,” Tisdale said.
During the incident, Sons was shot in the foot.
“Based on our early preliminary investigation, we believe that the gunfire, that the wound that the mother sustained came from her son,” Battiste said.
Tisdale says she believes that account of events is not accurate based on where Sons was during the shooting.
“The hole through her foot went in one side came out the other, and the shrapnel is in her right leg. We believe the shot came from her left, not from her right, where her son was,” Tisdale said.
Sons said they want no-knock warrants banned and want all sworn officers to wear body cameras. But above all, they want justice.
“I want justice for my son. They didn’t have to treat us like they treated us. If they would have knocked on the door, we would have answered and came outside. They treated us like we weren’t even human beings,” Sons said.
Public Safety Director James Barber said on Thursday they are working to equip all sworn personnel with body cameras.
There is a GoFundMe and Cash App: $justicefortreyh set up to help Treyh Webster’s family with medical and funeral costs.
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About The Author: ChaLea Tisdale, Attorney at Law
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