The family of a man shot and killed by police in the bedroom of his DeKalb County home is suing the county and the two officers involved, alleging law enforcement had no right to enter the 37-year-old’s house without a search warrant.
Marando Salmon was killed Nov. 4, 2022, after police officers said they spotted a stolen car parked in the driveway of his Stone Mountain home. In a federal lawsuit, attorneys for Salmon’s family contend the officers failed to announce themselves before entering the man’s upstairs bedroom as he slept.
The officers were investigating a weeks-old allegation that someone had not returned a car to a dealer after taking a test drive, according to the complaint.
“Upon discovering the car in a driveway, they entered the home of Marando Salmon without a warrant,” the lawsuit said. “They surprised Mr. Salmon in bed and shot him to death.”
Credit: GBI
Credit: GBI
Officer Russell Mathis fired six rounds inside the bedroom, attorneys said, striking Salmon four times. He resigned from the police department last year and was indicted in February on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.
Mathis’ May 2023 departure was originally reported to the state police oversight agency as a voluntary resignation. But a check of those records Tuesday showed his files have been updated to show he resigned while under investigation, and his police certification has been suspended.
Officer Jordan Vance, who also entered the home, was indicted on one count of reckless conduct, DeKalb prosecutors said. He was fired from the police department in March.
DeKalb’s Internal Review Board found that Mathis’ use of force was not justified, and the board ruled in a 3-2 vote that the officers’ warrantless entry violated DeKalb police policy, according to the complaint.
The GBI, which investigated the deadly shooting, initially said the officers announced themselves and that Salmon was shot after refusing to comply with their commands and reaching for a gun.
But the state agency changed its statement the following day, writing instead that Salmon threw something at the officer who opened his bedroom door.
“Although the officer did not see Salmon touch a firearm, he was reaching for a nearby item,” the GBI said in its updated statement.
A handgun was found in Salmon’s room, according to the GBI, but authorities did not say exactly where the weapon was discovered.
Attorneys for Salmon’s family said the officers violated his constitutional rights by entering the home without a warrant, leading to what they said was his “tragic and avoidable death.”
The officers were investigating a non-violent property crime, the lawyers said, and should have waited for a search warrant before going inside.
“This tragedy goes beyond a simple mistake or misunderstanding,” attorney Michael Neff said in a statement. “It represents an unacceptable choice by DeKalb County to follow its policies and procedures rather than properly limit when the police can enter a home without a warrant.”
Salmon’s mother, Audrey Salmon, said her family hopes to prevent something like this from happening again.
“Marando was a loving father, brother, and son with a big heart who was always willing to help others. He should never have been killed by the police in his own home,” she said. “No family should have to experience this pain.”
DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston said the fatal encounter was captured on the officers’ body cameras.
“We were able to review exactly what happened and it became very clear to us based on everything we reviewed that there was criminal culpability by each of these officers in this particular case,” Boston said earlier this year after the officers were indicted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reached out to DeKalb County and its police department for comment on the lawsuit. A county spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation.
— AJC data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.
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