Family Speaks After Officer Shoots Woman Who Called 911
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GASTONIA, NC — New details are emerging surrounding what led a Gastonia Police officer to shoot a woman in her home Tuesday afternoon.
Police say Betty Sexton died at the hospital after Officer LaDoniqua Neely shot her in the chest.
Officers surrounded Sexton’s home on Union Rd. She’d just called them for help, family says, when Officer Neely killed her.
“My sister would not hurt anyone,” said Debra Kennedy.
Kennedy says her sister called 911 so police could help her remove two unwanted guests from the home she shared with her boyfriend.
At one point, Sexton grabbed a musket gun from the closet.
“An old musket gun,” said Kennedy. “It has powder that goes down in it, and you got to use a rod down in it. Even pellets have to put down in it.”
Kennedy says her sister’s boyfriend told her the gun was not loaded, and he says when officers told the mother of two to put it down, she began to comply.
“That officer still shot my sister dead in the chest,” said Kennedy.
Gastonia Police will only confirm that officers are justified in shooting if they fear their life is in danger.
“We’re not getting the full picture of it,” said the victim’s neighbor, Ron Radford. “And if the rest of society wants to draw conclusions based off one-sided information, I think that’s reckless.”
Gastonia Police asked the State Bureau of Investigations to take over so as to have an unbiased investigation.
“All she wanted was someone removed from her house,” said Kennedy.
Sexton was 43 years old. She had two teenage children.
Officer Neely has been with the Gastonia Police Department sine 2012.
