By Suzie Ziegler
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Body camera footage of a fatal OIS earlier this month was released Tuesday by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the encounter unfolded August 7 when deputies converged on a group of four people in a mall parking lot, one of whom had a warrant for felon in possession of a firearm.
The deputy who fired his weapon, Agent James Montiel, says he saw 22-year-old Salaythis Melvin, who was among the group, was carrying a gun. As Montiel approached, Melvin began to run away and Montiel pursued him. Montiel says that’s when Melvin turned, as if he was going to shoot, prompting the agent to fire his weapon.
In an affidavit from the shooting, deputies wrote that Melvin had his right hand on a handgun in his waistband, according to the Sentinel.
The bodycam video shows Melvin from afar, running across a parking lot when he suddenly falls midstride. A deputy runs up behind him a few seconds later. The deputy who is wearing the body camera approaches Melvin, who is on the ground bleeding. Deputies then start to administer aid while waiting for an ambulance. Melvin later died of his injuries at a hospital. The other three people were detained and two were later arrested – one on the warrant and the other on a probation violation, the Sentinel reported.
According to the Sentinel, the sheriff’s office has not said why there is no available bodycam footage from Montiel.
Deputies say they found a stolen, loaded handgun on Melvin. The sheriff’s office later learned that Melvin is a convicted felon and legally prohibited from having a gun, according to the Sentinel.
Attorneys who represent the deceased argue he posed no threat to the deputy.