ATLANTA — Body and dashcam video was released Wednesday in the death of a Black man who was fatally shot by a coastal Georgia deputy during a traffic stop earlier this week.
Camden County Sheriff's Office released the videos of Monday's traffic stop showing the moments that led up to Leonard Cure's death. The 53-year-old was stopped just before 7:30 a.m. while traveling along Interstate 95 in Georgia near the Florida state line. Cure was not armed.
Cure, who had spent more than 16 years in prison in Florida on a wrongful conviction, was exonerated of an armed robbery in December 2020. He was originally from an Atlanta suburb.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now looking into Cure's death.
11Alive is sharing portions of the videos, beginning at the moment when the deputy initiates the traffic stop until the fatal shot or shots are fired.
Leonard Cure's traffic stop
Dashcam video begins with a Camden County deputy traveling on the interstate. A pickup truck drives past him on the left lane. The deputy begins to trail it and turns on the lights and, presumably, sirens (there is no audio playing in the first portion of the video). Eventually, the pickup pulls over to the right shoulder.
The Camden County deputy, whose name has not yet been released, is seen getting out of the vehicle and shouting "Get out" several times as he approaches the pickup.
Cure exits the vehicle and stays near the driver's side door while the deputy orders him to "put your hands back here," pointing toward the pickup's cab.
"I ain't doing s***," Cure says as he exits the vehicle.
The deputy grabs Cure's arm, ordering him to "put your damn hands back here." Cure pulls his arm away and puts them at his side.
"Who are you?" he asks. The deputy identified himself from a distance pointing his Taser, as Cure also identifies himself to the deputy.
"Step to the rear of this vehicle," the deputy orders.
"In the name of who?" Cure asks calmly.
"In the name of the law of the state of Georgia. Step back here or you're getting Tased," the deputy threatens.
Cure is seen walking with his hands up before placing them on the rear of the pickup.
Video shows the deputy call in a non-compliant situation on his radio, requesting backup. Cure then continues the conversation, asking if the deputy had a warrant and for an explanation of why he was stopped. The deputy answers Cure and continues to threaten to use his Taser. (Click here to view the dash camera video)
"Put your hands behind your back or you're getting Tased," the deputy yells.
"Why?" Cure asks, with his hands on the truck. "Why am I getting Tased?"
"Because you are under arrest for speeding and reckless driving," the deputy says.
"I'm not driving. Nobody was hurt. How was I speeding?" Cure asks.
"You passed me doing 100 mph," the deputy says.
"OK - so that's a speeding ticket," Cure responds.
"Sir, tickets in the state of Georgia are criminal offenses," the deputy says.
"I don't have a ticket in Georgia," Cure responds.
"You do now," the deputy replies.
"Why?" Cure asks.
The deputy responds, saying, "You are going to jail," and then deploys his Taser, stunning Cure. He never presented Cure with a citation or ticket.
Leonard Cure's shooting death
As Cure was stunned, the deputy continued to yell at him to put his hands behind his back, dashcam video showed. Cure then turned around and walked toward the deputy, swatting at the stun gun's wires.
The deputy can be seen making first contact with Cure as he continued to disarm the stun gun's wires, according to the footage. A struggle then ensued between the two, with Cure seen forcefully pushing the deputy's face and also calling him an expletive. In a subtle motion, blocked from full view of the camera, the deputy is seen on dashcam video pulling his gun out.
Dashcam showed the deputy struggle with Cure and manage to push him to the ground. As Cure fell out of sight of the dashcam, the deputy ordered him to stay down at gunpoint. He then grabbed his radio and called in "shots fired" against a suspect.
An armed Brinks employee arrived shortly after, according to the dashcam video.
"Cover him," the deputy orders, who at this point is also pointing a gun at Cure while he is out of sight of the dashcam video. The deputy handcuffs Cure, who is still out of sight of the dashcam but did not make any noise or move his arms. Bodycam video from the deputy showed another vantage point. Cure is bleeding and is absolutely still in that footage.
Bodycam video showed that the deputy went to his trunk to get an AED and tried to perform life-saving measures on Cure.
As more law enforcement arrived at the scene, one man is heard asking the deputy if Cure had a gun or if he frightened the deputy.
"He frightened me," the deputy responded.
He's heard in his bodycam video mentioning that his face hurt and called Cure a "little (expletive)." The deputy also mentioned that he couldn't see, as he lost his glasses in the struggle.
Shortly after, he is heard crying out of sight in the dashcam video.
Other law enforcement officers checked on him. The deputy reports that he wasn't hurt and that Cure did not have a gun.
An ambulance arrived, and with more than a dozen people at the scene, EMS lifts Cure into the vehicle.
The entire dashcam video is around 21 minutes long; bodycam footage is 9 minutes.