HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The sister of a man killed by a Houston police officer last month wants the officer punished.
Maribel Medrano said she viewed body and dashcam video of her brother’s death at police headquarters shortly before it was released to the public on Friday.
“Those last moments of his will forever be instilled in my brain,” Medrano told Eyewitness News.
Edmundo Meza, 42, had gone to a north Houston gas station near his home the night of Aug. 7.
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“Went down the street, purchased a drink, and sat out there for a few minutes,” Medrano said.
But Meza’s presence triggered a call to police, who said he and another man were reported as trespassers.
Two officers approached, and when they ran Meza’s name, they learned that he has traffic warrants .
When the officers attempt to arrest Meza, he tries to pull away. It’s then they discover he has a gun, and a struggle ensues.
Meza and both officers fall to the ground. Video shows the officers pinning his arms and Officer Jill McGowan lodging a gun in his stomach. McGowan repeatedly threatens to shoot Meza.
“She could have tasered him, she could have done anything,” Medrano said. “I feel they could have secured him and restrained him in so many other ways than putting that gun on him.”
Meza repeatedly encourages the officer to shoot him, and you can hear him say ‘shoot me’ right before McGowan fires her weapon.
Meza dies an hour later at the hospital.
“Just because he says, ‘Shoot me,’ it doesn’t mean you go and shoot him. Regardless of what he says, doesn’t mean you go and do it,” Medrano said.
Police say Meza had “attempted to move his hands toward the pistol” that was tucked in his waistband. That’s not what Medrano said she saw.
“They have his hands. He’s not going for his gun, he’s not doing anything,” Medrano said.
Medrano told ABC13 that she believes McGowan should be fired and face criminal charges. McGowan was previously cleared in the 2012 shooting death of an unarmed man. She said she believed he was reaching for a gun, but it turned out to be a can of beer.
“He might have had a rap sheet or, you know, here or there did his time in and out of jail, but my brother was a good person,” Medrano said.
It’s the second time her family has lost someone to a police shooting.
Meza’s twin brother, Victor, was killed by a Houston police officer in 2002. News reports at the time quote police as saying he was waving a gun and ignored commands to put it down.
“We’re having to relive the same thing over again. Over again, the exact same thing,” Medrano said.
McGowan remains on leave pending the outcome of an internal HPD investigation. The district attorney’s office is also investigating.
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