Video shows moments before deputies shot, killed man in Monroe; family demands answers

MONROE, N.C. — New surveillance video shows what happened in the moments before a deputy shot and killed a man outside a Monroe convenience store in March.

Union County deputies said they tried to pull over Malcolm Staton during a drug investigation on March 15, but they said he kept driving and hit three sheriff’s cars. Investigators said that’s when Staton was shot in the parking lot of the Sunny Food Mart.

There were four surveillance cameras that were rolling when the events unfolded and the footage was released by family attorneys on Friday. The video does not show the shooting itself.

It starts with an unmarked car with blue lights pulling up to the side of Malcolm’s Staton’s Honda Accord. The officer jumps out and Staton backs up as another officer pulls behind him. Staton drives around the first car, and another unmarked car can be seen speeding into view to block him. Then, a pickup truck slams into the back of Staton’s car.

You can’s see what happens next, but deputies said the driver of the Accord, 30-year-old Malcolm Staton, was shot by deputies while his girlfriend sat in the passenger seat. Three kids -- all under the age of five -- were in the backseat.

Two days later, Staton died at the hospital.

His family’s attorney, Shean Williams, was upset by what the footage showed.

“How does a Black man in a car with no weapons, no gun, with his girlfriend, his children, get shot and killed?”

A month and a half later, the family and their attorneys announced their own investigation as they gathered in front of the courthouse. They say their requests for information from police have been denied.

Police told Channel 9 they tried to stop the car as part of a drug investigation, but that’s all they will say since the State Bureau of Investigation now has the case.

“It gives police an opportunity to get their story straight to concoct legal justifications for why they did what they did,” Williams said.

On Friday, Staton’s mother stood with the mothers of her son’s children and echoed the call for answers.

“I just want answers, and I want them now,” J’On Staton said. “I deserve them. My grandkids deserve these answers.”

“I can’t tell you how traumatizing it is for kids having to go through this,” said Cree Faulkner, who was Staton’s girlfriend. “I don’t think anyone is prepared to see their dad killed, especially a 2-year-old little girl.

The attorneys say they want the names of the officers involved, and any video of the incident.

Family of man shot, killed by deputies in Union County address media along with attorneys

The family of a man shot and killed by deputies at a Union County gas station parking lot addressed the media, along with their high-profile attorneys Friday morning.

Staton’s mother and the mothers of five of his children talked to the media, along with attorneys Shean Williams, Faith Fox, and Sam Starks of The Cochran Firm. The firm was founded by Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. and has a regional office in Charlotte. Cochran was best known for his defense in the trial for O.J. Simpson, which ended in Simpson’s acquittal in 1995.

On Friday, Williams said The Cochran Firm is conducting its own investigation into the deadly incident.

Williams has handled other high-profile shootings involving law enforcement.

Friends, family and members of the community have been protesting outside of the Union County Courthouse since Staton’s death.

The demonstrators said that there could have been alternative outcomes that did not end in their friend losing his life.

(WATCH BELOW: Community gathers in Monroe to protest deadly deputy-involved shooting at food mart)

Community gathers in Monroe to protest deadly deputy-involved shooting at food mart

©2022 Cox Media Group