Incident
| Date | Sep 02, 1989 |
| Department | Buffalo Police Department |
| Officers | Cedric R. Holloway |
| Address | Buffalo, NY |
Incident Description
Buffalo Police Officer Cedric Holloway responded to a 911 call from Darlene Brantley arising from a dispute she had with her ex-boyfriend, during the morning hours of September 2, 1989. Holloway claimed he saw Brantley with a knife and responded by shooting and killing Brantley, a Black 31 year old mother of a 9-year-old boy. Officer Holloway shot Brantley through the open window of his police vehicle.
Brantley was the first Black woman ever killed by an on-duty Black officer in the Buffalo Police Department. She was also the first person to be killed by the department's new automatic weapon, the 9-millimeter. The bullet from the gun tore through her abdominal organs, damaging her liver, lungs and spleen before exiting her left side. For eleven months she struggled to live as a patient at ECMC's intensive care unit. She died on July 23, 1990.
Links
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LA Has Rodney King...Buffalo Has The Darlene Brantley Case..
According to the affidavit, the firearms expert came to two conclusions after his investigation. First, that the police officer may have shot Brantley by accident; and secondly, the officer was grossly undertrained in the safe and effective use of the 9-MM. - The Challenger
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SUIT FILED AGAINST POLICE IN KILLING LAWYER CLAIMS OFFICERS WERE NOT TRAINED PROPERLY
Afederal jury will decide whether Darlene Brantley was shot because she charged Buffalo police with a knife or because, as her lawyer claims, two poorly trained police officers overreacted. A civil rights suit seeking $115 million in damages has been filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Ms. Brantley, who died July 23 from complications arising from the Sept. 2, 1989, shooting near her Montana Street home. - Buffalo News
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Dorothy BEAN, as Administratrix of the Estate of Darlene Brantley v City of Buffalo
The Court held that defendants' notices of appeal were frivolous, and did not trigger the appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals under the "collateral order doctrine". The Court continued to exercise jurisdiction over the case, and did not stay proceedings pending resolution of defendants' appeal. The Court denied defendants' motions and plaintiff's cross-motion. - SKRETNY, District Judge | United States District Court, W.D. New York
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OFFICER IS CLEARED IN '89 FATAL SHOOTING WOMAN ATTACKED HIM WITH KNIFE
Police Officer Cedric Holloway was cleared in the fatal shooting of a woman. In a sealed report, an Erie County grand jury told State Supreme Court Justice Theodore S. Kasler it found no grounds for filing charges against Holloway, 25, in the fatal shooting of Darlene Brantley. Thomas H. Burton, the Buffalo police union attorney who represented Holloway, said the shooting was "a tragedy brought on by Miss Brantley" who had called police to her Montana Street home after an argument with her boyfriend. - Matt Gryta | Buffalo News
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TRIAL BEGINS IN CASE OF WOMAN SLAIN BY POLICE OFFICER AFTER PHONING 911
Ms. Brantley, 31, of Montana Street, was shot by Officer Cedric Holloway, who responded to a call she made after a fight between her and an ex-boyfriend Sept. 2, 1989. She died in Erie County Medical Center 10 months later of organ failure caused by the wound. - Dan Herbeck | Buffalo News