Grieving mom confronts Sheriff Demings
A west Orange County mother whose black son was killed last year during an encounter with Orange County deputies finally had a chance to confront Sheriff Jerry Demings on Thursday morning.
Demings, who is running to be elected the next Orange County mayor was participating in a political forum on The Wire 98.5 -- a Pine Hills-based radio station -- when Cadillya Anthony called in to discuss her son’s death. Orange County Commissioner Pete Clark, who is also running for the mayor’s seat, was on the show with Demings.
Ms. Anthony’s son, Clarence CJ Lake 3rd, died from drowning after he was chased by 10 deputies, 3 police dogs, and a police helicopter. She called in because she is still waiting for an explanation of her son’s death.
Two days after her son’s body was recovered from Lake Sherwood, near Good Homes Road, Ms. Anthony went to the sheriff’s office headquarters seeking an explanation.
Deputies said they were out of the office, but that they would get back to her. That never happened even though the death occurred more than a year ago.
On the radio, Demings stammered and said that he was not familiar with the incident. He went on to speak in general about conditions that may result in some young people becoming crime victims or committing crimes.
CJ’s death was widely reported last year by the mainstream news media. Earlier this year, 32805OrlNews.com extensively reported on the case and some troubling details about the events that led to CJ’s death. Our reports on this case were viewed by thousands of people.
At the time of his death, CJ Lake was a college-bound honors student and football player at Evans High School. He had no criminal record, but he always feared that police would kill him.
During the radio broadcast, Demings promised that he would reach out to the mother and get her more details about her son’s death.
For more details on this case, click here.
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