The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video footage of a woman’s final moments before she was executed in front of sheriff’s deputies by her abusive boyfriend.
The violence occurred around 12:30 a.m. outside a Carmichael, California apartment complex on Oct. 27.
The video, which includes commentary by sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Tess Deterding, begins with a chaotic scene as the suspect fights with a woman and throws her to the ground, while trying to kick in an apartment door.
The man, who was later identified as Earnest Easterling, 25, lifts his shirt to reveal a handgun tucked into his waistband. “You got the police called on me! I didn’t do sh*t!” he yelled to someone inside the apartment.
The woman, who was still on the ground, yelled to someone inside the apartment to lock her door. The woman was later identified as Chanell Brown, 23, Easterling’s girlfriend.
At some point, Easterling left and returned to the apartment. “He had replaced the standard round magazine in his handgun with a 50 round drum magazine,” Sgt. Deterding explained.
Multiple neighbors called 911 to report a man with a gun. He again tried to break the door down.
“Hey, on my mama. When they come, I’m blasting you… You broke my car, doing that weird s—,” he said while punching Brown. “Ernest, stop!” she cried.
As sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene at 12:40 a.m., Brown walked toward them with her hands in the air. “Naw, bruh,” Easterling said. “Ernie, go in the house,” Brown told him.
As Brown walked behind a fence with her hands in the air, Easterling lunged at her and opened fire, killing her.
The three deputies unloaded their clips at Easterling, killing him instantly.
“That video speaks a thousand words,” Sgt. Deterding told CBS News. “If you watch it, everything unfolds in a split second.”
Brown’s mother described her daughter as an “angel,” and said she saved lives the night she died. “That’s what really happened. She sacrificed her own life.”
A family member said Easterling was Brown’s first boyfriend. She said Brown’s personality changed and she became distant after dating Easterling.
The family held a press conference on the day the video was released to the public. They said their goal is to prevent others domestic violence victims from meeting the same fate as Brown.
CAUTION: The video contains scenes of graphic violence that may be disturbing to some viewers.
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This video was edited for clarity.
