By Hayley Miller, huffingtonpost.com
The family of Charleena Lyles is demanding answers after the 30-year-old black mother was shot and killed by two white Seattle police officers responding to her call for help.
Lyles called police on Sunday, reportedly asking them to investigate a robbery. Two officers arrived and fired their service weapons at Lyles after she allegedly displayed a knife, police said. She died on the scene.
Lyles was pregnant with her fifth child and had been experiencing mental health issues, according to her family. Three of her children were in the apartment when police opened fire, though it’s unclear if they witnessed the shooting, Seattle Police Department Det. Mark Jamieson told reporters on Sunday.
“There is no reason for her to be shot in front of her babies,” Monika Williams, Lyles’ sister, said Sunday. “She had mental health issues that nobody is trying to address.”
According to her relatives, Lyles worried that her children were going to be taken away from her. The children at home on the day of the shooting are now being cared for by family members.
