Officials in Virginia said a 19-year-old woman committed suicide by shooting herself through the mouth despite her having her hands handcuffed behind her back.
Police in Chesapeake previously stated that she used a handgun inside a car to kill herself during a traffic stop.
Chesapeake Police Department spokesman Leo Kosinski said an officer attempted to handcuff her boyfriend, Holden Medlin, and a struggle took place.
According to Kosinski, another officer left Wilson next to the car to try and help subdue Medlin. But, “during the struggle, the body cam gets knocked off, hits the ground, goes offline,” he said.
Then, Wilson, who was in handcuffs, moved toward Medlin’s car and reached for a gun. She then shot herself, 13NewsNow reported.
Kosinski told WAVY that Wilson somehow “contorted” her body and shot herself in the head.
Before they were pulled over, Wilson and Medlin, 27, were under surveillance by Chesapeake police officers, according to the station.
Medlin was arrested after he swallowed a “golf-ball” sized bag with an unknown substance inside.
When police searched his car, they discovered 11 oxycodone pills, a syringe, drug paraphernalia, a gun, and boxes of ammunition.
He was charged with possession of drugs, possession of a firearm with illegal drugs, fleeing from law enforcement, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Wilson’s friends and family members remain incredulous about her cause of death, saying it’s unlikely she killed herself in that manner.
She claimed that witnesses told her that the police officers were responsible for her daughter’s death.
“There is a few different stories, but they all end the same: that the police shot her (sic),” she added. “Things are not matching up. Somewhere, somehow, there is a discrepancy.”
“She never would have left them. Never,” Wilson told the news outlet. “Something went very, very wrong. Even if their story is true … they dropped the ball. My daughter is gone.”
Suicide Hotlines
If you are in an emergency in the U.S. or Canada, please call 911. You can phone the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1 800 273 8255. Youth can call the Kids Help Phone on 1800 668 6868.Violent Crime Drops?
The FBI said that in 2017 violent crime had dropped by 0.2 percent, according to a release, but aggravated and rape offenses increased by a respective 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent, the agency said.“In 2017, there were an estimated 1,247,321 violent crimes. The estimated number of robbery offenses decreased 4.0 percent, and the estimated number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 0.7 percent when compared with estimates from 2016. The estimated volume of aggravated assault and rape (revised definition) offenses increased 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively,” said the FBI.
The agency added: “By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants; rape (aggregate total using the revised and legacy definition), 7.2; robbery, 29.3; and aggravated assault, 120.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, the FBI said that there are now 670,279 sworn officers and 286,662 civilian officers in the U.S, which is a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.
