GAUTIER, Mississippi -- The family of Floyd Beverly Jr., the 40-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Pascagoula police officer on Wednesday, has filed a complaint with the NAACP alleging they were not properly notified about his death and that he received multiple gunshot wounds.
Authorities said last week that an officer was responding to a stabbing assault call at Bandywood Apartments when he observed the suspect going north on Industrial Road.
The officer was conducting a traffic stop when Beverly exited his vehicle, brandished a firearm and was shot, they said.
The unidentified stabbing victim, who the family said was his on-again, off-again girlfriend, was still listed in critical condition at Singing River Hospital's neuro intensive care unit on Saturday night, authorities said Sunday. The woman was stabbed multiple times.
Family members said they just want answers.
Jocelyn Beverly, the deceased's younger sister, said she was the first family member to view his body. She said she saw at least three gunshot wounds -- one each in his left hand, left thigh and left foot -- and wonders which of those were the fatal shot, if any.
She viewed him after an autopsy, she said, so it was difficult to tell if he had additional wounds.
Floyd Beverly Jr., a self-employed car mechanic described as a jokester, leaves behind his parents, four siblings, and eight children who are all 17 years old or younger.
"He was nothing like the media has made him out to be," said Joyce Chiles, his aunt. "He was a very compassionate individual, a happy-go-lucky type of person, ... and it would take sufficient provocation for him to do what he is accused of doing."
Gautier resident Edmee Beverly, the mother of Floyd Beverly Jr., said she still has questions surrounding the incident and has yet to formally meet with any Police Department officials.
She now wonders if gunfire was exchanged both ways, why her son was shot multiple times and what happened between her son and the stabbing victim, among other questions.
"As a mother, I should have been the first one they notified," she said. "I just want the truth. Why couldn't they come to my door and tell me they had shot and killed my son?"
Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson said that Edmee Beverly called the Police Department asking about her son before they had a chance to notify her.
Beverly was killed around 12:01 a.m., and his mother called the department around 4:30 a.m., Johnson said.
"We confirmed what she had heard, and we invited her to come to the Police Department and discuss it, which she did," he said. "We attempted to answer any questions she had."
Johnson noted that had Mrs. Beverly not called the department herself, officers would have made a formal notification of her son's death.
"My heart goes out to the Beverly family because they have lost a loved one and that is very tough," Johnson said. "But the facts pretty much speak for themselves. He pulled a gun on the officer and was shot. The officer was defending himself, and I'm confident the grand jury and NAACP will concur that the officer's actions were justified."
Johnson plans to meet with NAACP chapter President Curley Clark this week, he said.
"We're not here to point fingers at this point," Clark said. "There are just some questions we need to get answered for the family."
Clark said that since Beverly was the second black male suspect in two years to be killed by Pascagoula officers during apprehension, his organization will be interested in making sure local authorities are not targeting black men accused in area crimes.
In 2009, Three Rivers native Grady Wells was also shot and killed by a Pascagoula officer after he brandished a sword-type weapon. Clark noted that the NAACP found no fault on the department's behalf in that case.
The NAACP will also want to review the department's excessive force policy to see if it is adequate and properly followed, he said.
"This may not be a case of if his death was justifiable," Clark said, "but rather if it was avoidable."
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