The victim was allegedly the getaway driver for two shoplifting suspects
The Florida man who was killed by Osceola County deputy sheriffs last week outside a Target store has been identified as 20-year-old Jayden Baez.
As reported by ClickOrlando, Baez was allegedly the getaway driver for two men — Edwin Lowe, 19, and Michael Samuel Gomez, 18 — who witnesses claim stole packs of Pokémon cards and a pizza from a Target store near Kissimmee.
The two men left the store and got into a black Audi driven by Baez. Another man was also waiting in the vehicle, police said. When multiple police units attempted to confront the shoplifters, two deputies opened fire, killing Baez.
Gomez and Lowe reportedly suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the gunfire and were hospitalized and later arrested. The third suspect was detained at the scene. It remains unclear why deputies opened fire on the car, as the arresting affidavit does not state what preceded the gunfire.
Attorneys from NeJame Law said in a news release that Lowe and Gomez were watched by deputies inside the store and then followed to their car “without being stopped or detained, even though probable cause would have existed.”
“As the young men, including teenagers, commenced slowly driving off, several unmarked deputy vehicles moved in to box them in. From all the information obtained to date, the deputies never identified themselves as law enforcement and were in unmarked vehicles,” the law firm wrote, ClickOrlando reports.
“As the car continued to drive off, the deputies, without legal cause or justification, fired multiple gunshots into their vehicle without regard for the safety of the occupants or civilians in the area.”
The unnamed deputies were not wearing body cameras, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez confirmed, per ClickOrlando.
“Because they were training, my deputies were wearing tactical gear and none of the initial deputies on scene were equipped with body cameras,” Lopez said.
“It is also a fact that suspects in this case stole items from Target and got into a vehicle. It is at this point my deputies attempted to detain the individuals in the car,” he continued. “The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating exactly what took place during the attempted detention of the suspects.”
Lopez will not release the names of the deputies involved in the shooting, citing the state’s Marsy’s Law which protects the legal rights of crime victims.
Lopez also made it clear during a press conference that he will not offer an explanation as to why deputies used deadly force until after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement completes its investigation.
Target does not want the shoplifters prosecuted, according to the report.
Baez’s family is preparing to take legal action against the sheriff’s office for the use of police deadly force and misuse of authority.
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