Man shot dead by deputy after traffic stop had gun, released video shows

Miami Herald

7 days ago

The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office on Monday released body camera footage of a June traffic stop that escalated to a chase and gunfire, leading to the death of a 24-year-old man.
On June 17, deputies with the Robbery Intervention Detail tried to pull over Kristofer Lazaro Laboy in the area of Northwest 66th Street and 22nd Avenue for having dark tints on his yellow Corvette, the sheriff's office said. That led to a chase — and deputy Kelvin Cox, a 23-year veteran officer, opened fire, striking Laboy, who had hopped out of the Corvette armed.
READ MORE: Deputy shoots, kills armed man after 'simple traffic stop' goes wrong, MDSO says
Laboy died at the scene, and no one else was injured. Cox has been placed on administrative duty, as is the policy of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
'While a thorough investigation by [FDLE] is still underway, releasing this footage ensures everyone sees the sequence of events as they unfolded,' Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said in a statement. 'Regardless of the outcome, my commitment is clear, to be transparent with our community, to hold ourselves to the highest standards, and to continue working every day to earn and maintain your trust.
In the body cam footage, a deputy is heard shouting, 'Put the gun down' seconds before about six gunshots ring out. The deputy told Laboy, who was lying on the grass, to 'drop the f------ gun.'
The weapon, a Sig Sauer P320 that had a round in the chamber, was seen on the grass next to Laboy's hand. Another deputy then placed Laboy's hands behind his back.
After searching Laboy's Corvette, deputies found a bag of marijuana and multiple bottles of promethazine, a prescription medication sometimes used to manufacture drugs, the sheriff's office said Monday.
The released footage also included video from a helicopter that was assisting deputies in tracking down Laboy's Corvette. The video captured Laboy speeding away, but ultimately driving into a dead-end street in an apartment community in the area of Northwest Fourth Court and Northwest 85th Street, just a mile away from where the pursuit began.
Deputies pulled in behind the Corvette, blocking Laboy from driving backward.