Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement Wednesday in response to requests for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to show the family of Jabari Peoples the police body camera video of the fatal shooting of 18-year-old by a Homewood police officer.
“The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has made this case a top priority, and I am confident they are working to efficiently get this done,” Ivey said.
“As soon as their investigation is complete, the body camera footage will be turned over to the local district attorney who will be able to show it to the family and whoever else he deems appropriate.
“It is important ALEA carefully and thoughtfully work this case, and I am confident the facts will prevail here.”
ALEA has declined a request by a lawyer for Peoples’ family to see the video, saying it could jeopardize the investigation.
The agency cited the Alabama law that says “a custodial law enforcement agency may choose not to disclose the recording if the disclosure would affect an ongoing active law enforcement investigation or prosecution.”
The shooting happened June 23 in Homewood Soccer Park.
Peoples was a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School where he was standout track athlete and football player.
Peoples had just finished his freshman year at Alabama A&M where he was studying computer information and criminal justice with hopes of becoming a law enforcement officer, specifically a detective. He worked as a security guard at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa.
Homewood police say a veteran officer, who has not been publicly identified, approached a vehicle to investigate because of a recent increase in criminal activity in and around the city’s athletic complexes.
The officer, police say, smelled marijuana and ordered Peoples and his female friend out of the vehicle.
Police say the encounter ended with Peoples resisting, breaking away from the officer as he tried to handcuff him, and grabbing a gun from the driver’s side door pocket.
The officer shot Peoples, who was pronounced dead a short time later at UAB Hospital.
Peoples’ family and attorneys disagreed with that narrative, saying that Peoples wasn’t armed and didn’t resist.
The Homewood Police Department turned the investigation over to ALEA, which is standard policy for many officer-involved shootings.
Homewood Mayor Alex Wyatt, in a statement on Monday, urged ALEA to show the Peoples’ family the video.
Rep. Kelvin Datcher, a Democrat whose House district takes in about 29% of Homewood’s population, sent a letter to ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor last week requesting that Peoples’ family and attorney be allowed to see the body camera footage.
“I understand ALEA – by law – has the authority to withhold the video if its release is believed to compromise the integrity of an ongoing investigation,” Datcher wrote. “I also trust that preserving the integrity of the investigation is a priority for both you and the agency.
“However, I am firmly convinced that allowing the family to privately view the video – with appropriate safeguards – is not only reasonable but necessary to foster transparency and healing.”
Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, whose district includes about 70% of Homewood’s population, said Tuesday he hopes ALEA can show the family the video as soon as possible.
Lawyers for Peoples’ family, Leroy Maxwell and Ben Crump, held a press conference on Tuesday and said an independent autopsy showed that Peoples was shot in the lower back, just above the buttocks.
They said there was little more they could draw from the examination without context that they say could be provided through the release of body camera and dash cam footage.
They also seek other supporting documents, such as police reports and records from the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s office, which conducted the official autopsy.
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