Latoya James: 37-Year-Old Mother Shot Dead By Georgia Police Inside Home
Latoya James, 37, was shot to death early Tuesday, May 4, 2021 inside a Camden County, Georgia home in what authorities are calling the serving of a “drug-related search warrant.”
Latoya James of Woodbine, Georgia was a 37-year-old mother who was a twin. “She was a mother and worked very hard and was determined to be successful in life,“ Mack Knight, the victim’s cousin and pastor, told local media.
James, who worked at a local hotel, “loved social gatherings with her friends and especially her family. She loved life and all it had to offer. She continued to find ways to better herself and the people around her. She had an infectious smile that would brighten your day. She was a loving mother to her daughter,” her obituary reads.
“She had a smile and affection that was contagious, really. She would just light up a room," Knight said to First Coast News.
James was shot to death early Tuesday, May 4, 2021 inside a Camden County, Georgia home in what authorities are calling the serving of a “drug-related search warrant.”
The officer-involved shooting involved an exchange of gunfire, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which continues to probe the case.
“Upon entry, there was an exchange of gunfire between the occupants of the residence, identified as Varshawn Lamont Brown, age 46, and Latoya Denise James, age 37, and law enforcement,” the GBI said in a news release. “During the incident, Brown was injured and transported to the hospital. James was shot and died at the scene.”
Also injured in the shooting was James’ cousin, Varshaun Brown, who was taken to the hospital for multiple surgeries. He will survive. Brown, 46, stayed at the home that James was visiting at the time of the shooting.
Despite what law enforcement officials say, the family of the victim say there are too many unanswered questions.
"There are a lot of missteps, a lot of missteps and still a lot of questions that are not answered and the video that they released still makes us have more questions,“ Knight was quoted as saying.
“So our knowledge of it is, there was no identifying themselves, that is what Varshaun is saying, they did not identify,” Knight told News 4 in Jacksonville. “They used a battering ram to open the door and just came on in, so he fired, thinking it was a robber coming in his house and shots were exchanged back.”
Camden County law enforcement has released a four-minute video that showed incidents surrounding the shooting, but the family wants the entire footage -- which is reportedly four hours long -- available to the public.
“They ain’t telling me anything. My baby is still laying in there on the floor,” Betty James, the victim’s mother, told First Coast News.
The truth may lie with security cameras that Brown had installed at the home prior to the killing.
“We are trying to get with the security teams to find out whatever video footage we can see,” Knight told the TV station.
One day after the shooting, James’ family had to break the horrific news to her daughter.
“They just keep telling her it was a shooting, and her mom was shot, but they haven’t told her who shot her and why. They were glued at the hip. Latoya really loved her daughter. Her daughter adored her mother,” Knight told the Jacksonville station.
The shooting is eerily similar to that of Breonna Taylor, who was gunned down by St. Louis Metro police officers in her bed.
