CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — The family of Leonard Cure, an exonerated man who was fatally shot by a Camden County deputy along I-95 in October, have filed an intent to sue the Camden County Sheriff's Office and Buck Aldridge for $16 million, one million dollars for every year Leonard Cure spent wrongfully imprisoned.
During a news conference at the Camden County Courthouse Tuesday, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump, and Harry Daniels announced the filing alongside Leonard Cure's mother and brothers.
"We won't let it be swept under the rug," Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump said.
Leonard Cure, who spent 16 years wrongfully incarcerated in Florida for a 2003 robbery, was pulled over by Aldridge for speeding and reckless driving in October.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Cure complied with Aldridge until he was told he was under arrest.
The GBI said Cure resisted arrest and assaulted Aldridge as he was trying to take Cure into custody. Aldridge shot Cure following a struggle along the side of the highway. Cure died at the scene.
"For 16 years his liberty had been taken. He had been thrown in a box. They had just barely got him back," Crump said.
Attorney Harry Daniels said Aldridge has a past of escalating incidents and said Cure's arrest was no different.
"The first aggressor in this case was Buck Aldridge," said Daniels. "The first person who initiated some type of force was Buck Aldridge."
RELATED: Dashcam footage shows deputy shoot Leonard Cure, Georgia man exonerated after 16 years in prison
The GBI continues to investigate the shooting, which is the state's 80th officer-involved shooting investigation this year.
In April 2017, Aldridge was placed on administrative leave for "alleged misconduct," while working for the Kingsland Police Department. In a press release, Crump said Aldridge was fired after throwing a woman on the ground during a traffic stop.
"He had other allegations of excessive force where citizens said he had brutalized them," Crump said. "Camden County had plenty of notice about the propensity of this officer to engage in excessive force."
After an internal investigation, the city manager suspended Aldridge without pay for three days and recommended a 12-month probationary period.
Four months later, Aldridge was fired for violating two agency policies: Use of Necessary and Appropriate Force and On/Off Duty Conduct policies, employee records stated.
"Kingsland Police Department did what the Camden County Sheriff's Office should have done. They fired him. If the policies had been followed, the practices that you laid out in your handbooks would have been adhered to, we would not be here today," Attorney Harry Daniels said.
Crump argued Aldridge should not have been employed by the Camden County Sheriff's Office if he was previously fired for violating agency policies.
"We don't believe he should have ever been a deputy at this point when you look at the history of his violating of civil rights of citizens, especially citizens of color," said Crump.
Leonard Cure had been out of prison for less than three years at the time of his death. One of his brothers, Michael Cure, said Leonard's death was the second time he was taken from them.
"Florida took him from us for approximately 17 years, and Camden County took him from us, permanently," said Michael Cure.
The Innocence Project of Florida, a nonprofit organization committed to helping innocent prisoners regain their freedom, represented Cure when he was being exonerated. Leonard Cure was exonerated in December 2020 based on findings of "actual innocence" after he was wrongfully convicted in 2003 for an armed robbery at a Walgreens in Broward County, Innocence Project said.
Before Leonard Cure's death, he spoke at colleges about his experience of being wrongfully convicted, and had just received compensation from the state of Florida for the time he lost while incarcerated.
"I want justice for my brother, and justice for my brother looks like this guy going to jail for at least 16 years, which is what my brother served for doing nothing," said Michael Cure.
Several of Leonard Cure's family members said the $16 million isn't enough compensation for losing their loved one.
"That can't compensate, I want my brother back, he deserves to be here," Michael Cure yelled.
"Justice is not about $16 million, it's about Buck Aldridge, and others paying the penalty for this injustice," said another one of Leonard Cure's brothers, Wallace Ware.
The last family member to speak was Leonard Cure's mother, Mary Cure, who detailed one of the scariest parts of dealing with her son's death.
"The worst thing that has happened to me, and the other thing that I feared is, I am now a part of a group of women whose sons have been killed for literally nothing. For just being Black," said Mary Cure.