Lajuana Phillips: 36-Year-Old Mother Of 3 Shot Dead By Sheriff's Deputy In California

Lajauna Phillips, 36, was shot to death by a sheriff’s deputy on Tuesday, October 3, 2018 outside a used car dealership in San Bernardino County, California.

Lajauna Phillips had just purchased a vehicle, a clean White Mercedes, but it wasn't working right. She took it back to the dealer to discuss the problem, but things turned horribly wrong.

Phillips,  a 36-year-old mother of three young children, lived in Helendale, an unincorporated city in the Victor Valley area of California's San Bernardino Valley.

Phillips worked hard for her money, so she was understandably upset while at the used car lot where she bought the car. But things would be never the same.

Phillips was shot and killed by a deputy on a street in Victorville, California, on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.  

That much isn't in dispute. Why and how it happened, though, remains a sticking point for the authorities and Phillips' grieving family.

“Don’t let anyone dehumanize her. She was not just ‘the suspect’ or ’the lady who was shot on Seventh Street,” her cousin Shonteze Williams told  the Victorville Daily Press. Raising his voice, he said: “Her name was Lajuana Evadn’i Louise Phillips.”

“Lajuana Evadn’i Louise Phillips,” he repeated. “Don’t let anybody forget it.”

Police officials didn't release much information on the killing, but on Wednesday A statement from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office said that deputies were called to a business parking lot. That's where, according to their report,  Phillips allegedly punched her husband in the face at Best Auto Sales used car dealer. She also reportedly was “fighting with another subject,” according to a press release from the sheriff.

It also says Phillips remained uncooperative behind the wheel and the deputy pepper sprayed her.

Authorities also assert that a visibly upset Phillips tried to hit a deputy with her car.

Attorney Sharon Brunner, who has been enlisted by Phillips’ family, has a big problem with the authorities' account of the shooting.

“There is no way the deputy’s report is correct,” Brunner told the Daily Press. “Just the trajectory of the bullet, where it hit, there is no way she was trying to run the deputy over.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Eric Dyberg or Sergeant Jerry Davenport of the Sheriff’s Homicide Detail at 909-387-3589. Persons wishing to remain anonymous can contact the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-782-7463 or online at www.wetip.com.