A 50-year-old who would have spent 16 years behind bars in Florida after a wrongful conviction was reportedly shot and killed by a police officer Monday, just months after receiving compensation for his lost years.
“I can only imagine what it’s like to know your son is innocent and watch him get sentenced to life in prison, be exonerated, and then be told he’ll be shot once he’s released. As a parent, I can’t imagine how this feels,” Seth Miller, executive director of the Florida Innocence Project, told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which independently investigates incidents involving law enforcement officers, announced the death of Leonard Allan Cure, 53, who was allegedly shot by a police officer after resisting arrest during a traffic stop in Georgia we can read in the press release.
According to the GBI, the man had been following police orders before becoming violent when he learned he would be arrested. The police officer then allegedly shot him with an electro-pulse gun before he was attacked by the victim.
“The deputy used the Taser and a baton a second time […]; However, Cure has still not complied with the request. The deputy drew his weapon and shot Cure,” the GBI said in its statement.
The 50-year-old died from his injuries after being treated by emergency services.
But according to the Associated Press, Leonard Allan Cure had just received $817,000 in compensation for 16 years in prison in August after he was wrongly sentenced to life in prison for an armed robbery at a pharmacy, given his criminal history.
But the man had a strong alibi and no physical evidence or corroborating witnesses to witness him at the crime scene would have allowed an independent investigative panel to decide before concluding he was innocent.
When he was released in 2020, the man said he was looking forward to “putting this situation behind me and moving on with my life,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, according to the news outlet.