Mother wants closure in son's 2013 shooting death by police

ATLANTA, Ga. — A mother wants answers in the case of her son’s shooting death by a police officer in Avondale Estates last year.

Montye Benjamin said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has finished its investigation.

She wonders what is holding up the DeKalb County district attorney’s review of the case.

“The last thing he said to me that night was ‘Mom, stop worrying about the little stuff and learn how to live,” she said.

Benjamin said hours later, her 20-year-old son Jayvis Benjamin was dead.

He was shot and killed by an Avondale Estates police officer in January 2013.

Jayvis' sister says her kids miss their uncle.

“He used to take them out for walks,” Stephanie Brown said.

What really disturbs the Benjamin family is the investigation surrounding the shooting is still not complete.

“It’s 20 months. Last week it was 20 months and I have not even got a correspondence,” Benjamin said.

Police say Jayvis Benjamin stole a car, was speeding when he ran a light at Covington Street and Kensington Avenue, before crashing in a yard nearby.

Officers say he then attacked an officer, forcing the officer to shoot him once in the chest.

“What’s being told to me is there is a video from the police car of the incident,” she said.

She said she can't get it because the investigation by the DeKalb County district attorney is still open.

She said the GBI finished their investigation after the shooting.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas the case is currently under review and that investigations are fluid and often require more time than anticipated.

They said the family will be notified when the investigative review is complete.

Benjamin said no one needs that much time to investigate what has already been investigated.

“Release it and we can have some closure,” brother Steven Benjamin said. “It’s been too long.”

WSBTV