MEMPHIS, Tenn — The mother of Jaylin McKenzie, the 20-year-old shot and killed during a chase with Memphis Police in 2022, is suing the city and the officers involved.
Ashley McKenzie Smith filed the lawsuit Wednesday and accuses officers of violating her son’s civil rights by using “unreasonable and excessive force” and denying him proper medical treatment. Smith is seeking an unspecified amount in damages but said this is the only way she feels she can find out the truth.
“We’ve been asking for raw video footage, can’t even get that,” she said. “We know you redacted the video, edited the video. Let me see the whole video. I don’t trust you. I don’t trust what you’re saying.”
Saturday marks one year since MPD officers made a traffic stop on American Way, where the driver took off and ended up in a grassy area off Cochese Ave. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said an MPD officer and McKenzie exchanged gunfire, and McKenzie was killed.
The officer who fired those shots did not have his body camera on.
In September, District Attorney Steve Mulroy said no charges would be filed, but the officers violated MPD policy by starting a high-speed chase over a traffic violation, and also had multiple discrepancies in their reports after the shooting.