CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – Well-known civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Henry Daniels announced Tuesday they are planning to file a $16 million lawsuit against the Camden County Sheriff’s Office and the deputy who fatally shot a 53-year-old man during a traffic stop in October.
Camden County Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge fatally shot Leonard Cure, who had spent more than 16 years in prison in Florida before being exonerated in a 2003 robbery.
Cure’s family also attended the news conference outside the Camden County Courthouse. They said they’re devastated at losing their loved one not once, but twice.
“It was just great to have him home. And to lose them again. For the second time permanently. There are no words in the English vernacular to express how heartbreaking it is. It is it’s just so sad. And again, November 23, is his birthday. So it was a bittersweet Thanksgiving for us all,” Michael Cure, Leonard’s brother said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into Cure’s shooting.
According to investigators, Cure was pulled over for speeding, and video from the Oct. 16 encounter shows an intense interaction between the two men before Aldridge fired a taser and Cure lunged at Aldridge.
WATCH: Video of violent Camden County traffic stop (Viewer discretion is strongly advised)
The two men wrestled before Aldridge pulled out his gun and fatally shot Cure.
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The Camden County District Attorney’s Office is waiting for GBI to submit its findings before making a final decision about the use of force.
“I am now a part of a group of women whose sons had been killed for literally nothing. But just being Black. How about that? How would you feel on his 53rd birthday, we were going to celebrate. Thanksgiving came and my son was not there,” Mary Cure, mother of Leonard, said.
News4JAX obtained Aldridge’s personnel files, which showed Aldridge was fired and given warnings in previous years working for law enforcement. Both involved traffic stops.
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The 41-year-old deputy worked for the Kingsland Police Department for five years before he was fired in 2017 after he threw a woman to the ground during a traffic stop and handcuffed her. The agency said the encounter violated its use of force policy.
Aldridge was hired by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in May 2018.
Since being freed three years ago, Cure worked a security job, planned on pursuing a college degree and frequently spoke at colleges about his experience of being wrongfully convicted.
Attorneys for the Cure family said they mailed a notice of their intent to file a lawsuit to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office Monday.
A spokesperson with the sheriff’s office says they can’t comment because have not yet received it. They also said Deputy Aldrige is on paid leave as the GBI investigates the shooting.