New video shows teen’s final moments as Seattle faces CHOP trial
Video shows last moments of teen killed in CHOP shooting
Antonio Mays Jr. was hit outside the East Police Precinct on June 29, 2020, and his killer still hasn't been caught. Next week, the trial in the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seattle is scheduled to begin for negligence in the case, with some blaming first responders for not reaching the teen fast enough.
SEATTLE - It's been five years since a 16-year-old was shot and killed during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, also known as CHOP.
Antonio Mays Jr. was shot outside the East Police Precinct on June 29, 2020, and his killer still hasn't been caught.
Next week, the trial in the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seattle is scheduled to begin for negligence in the case, with some blaming first responders for not reaching the teen fast enough.
Keep reading to learn more about this newly rediscovered video and what Antonio Mays Sr. is saying about it and his son's death.
The footage of Antonio Mays Jr. captured the teen's final moments
FOX 13 Seattle talked to the teen's dad and a local journalist, Omari Salisbury, ahead of the trial.
Salisbury covered the fatal shooting and the aftermath on his live stream. He also captured the young man's final moments at the protest in newly rediscovered footage.
Omari Salisbury
Footage given to FOX 13 Seattle by Salisbury of Converge Media showed the events of that night in 2020.
"We got people shot!," you could hear shout on Salisbury's June 29, 2020, live stream that captured the chaos surrounding the deadly CHOP zone shooting.
"I’m up against the wall! Get back, get back, get back! Up! It’s a mass casualty event," shouted bystanders on the video after shots were fired.
In the mayhem, Antonio Mays Jr. lost his life.
"The gunshots were so loud, like ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,'" said Salisbury.
Salisbury was recording as the tragedy unfolded around him.
"It was undeniable. I was like, ‘Man, somebody is getting shot,’ and you look around that corner, and you could see there was just people running in, running towards us," Salisbury recalled.
He says medical help was slow after the shooting. On his live stream, you could hear people yell to "open the gate." You could also hear someone say, "Medic one is blocked. They are locked in by barricades."
What's included in the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seattle?
What they're saying:
An attorney representing Antonio Mays Jr.'s estate has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
In the complaint, it states that, "16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot and left to die without the assistance he was entitled to by the government."
It goes on to claim he, "was alive and conscious after being shot inside the City-created Capitol Hill Occupied Protest area."
It also states that the teen "was shot and bled out while trying to escape, while being barricaded at the "CHOP" or "CHAZ" area in the city of Seattle, which the city abandoned without a working plan to provide essential services, creating a danger."
The lawsuit also goes on to state it was "CHOP medics, who were essentially good Samaritans, attempted to provide aid, deciding at 3:05 a.m. to transport Antonio out of CHOP for emergency assistance," rather than Seattle paramedics.
Documents state a paramedic crew later met the CHOP medics at a different location to treat Mays Jr.
A new perspective in the Antonio Mays Jr. wrongful death case
Before that night, Salisbury had taken this newly rediscovered footage of the young victim, speaking at CHOP. While Salisbury took the footage, it was first discovered that Mays Jr. was shown in that footage by an NPR producer who was researching for a project by The Seattle Times, KUOW and NPR.
Mays Jr. is pictured (on the right) in the image below, provided by Converge Media, wearing a black and yellow sweatshirt and white mask.
"The police, their purpose is to serve and protect, and we agree with their purpose, but we do not agree with them because of what they’ve been doing," said Mays Jr. in the archived video clip from Converge Media in 2020. "I would like to make it known that I wish the police would have more supervision and training."
Salisbury says the teen did the interview in front of his camera about 48 hours prior to his death.
"This clip that was found in our footage five years later, kind of paints a picture of Antonio and what he was doing just days before his murder," said Salisbury.
A father in mourning
Mays Jr.'s father, Antonio Mays Sr., was emotional when he watched the video.
"It hurts so bad not to have him here today," said Mays Sr. "There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think of my son."
Antonio Mays Sr. and Antonio Mays Jr.
"Overwhelmed," he said. "It was like a memory that I didn’t have the blessing to attend, but it felt like it just overwhelmed me so much I couldn’t sleep last night."
Mays Sr. says his son was his partner in their family BBQ business and had a big heart. Mays Jr. is pictured (below) at the BBQ stand.
Mays Sr. says his son left him a note, hoping to make him proud before leaving for Seattle to join what he called the "civil rights movement of his time."
"My son went up there to make a difference, he advocated peacefully for additional training, he was reasonable," said Mays Sr.
Dig deeper:
In the meantime, attorneys for the city of Seattle have been mounting a defense, stating in documents that "Antonio Mays Jr. died at the hands of an unknown third party."
Attorneys also recently filed a motion to exclude what they called "late disclosed witnesses," saying, "This was the first time the Plaintiffs had disclosed any of these individuals."
"It sounded like these shots were like 10 feet away," said Salisbury in the video clip.
As the case moves forward, Salisbury believes the rediscovered video of Mays Jr. will help his dad in the tough weeks ahead when he has to relive the tragedy at the trial.
"I’m hopeful that with this video that Antonio Mays Sr. has something reaffirming to him of who he always said his son was," Salisbury told FOX 13 Seattle.
FOX 13 Seattle reached out to the city attorney's office for additional comment. A spokesperson said they cannot comments at this time because the case is in active litigation.
What's next:
Mays Jr.'s attorney says jury selection in the wrongful death trial against the city is scheduled to begin around Dec. 8 in the wrongful death case.
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The Source: Information in this story came from footage inside the Capitol Hill Occupied Zone provided by Omari Salisbury with Converge Media, court documents of the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seattle, and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.