Family of slain Lawton man calls for justice

The family of Quadry Sanders is demanding justice and they are asking all of Lawton’s citizens to join them in this call.

To them, the Dec. 5, 2021, shooting death of the unarmed Sanders, 29, at 1806 NW Lincoln from 12 gunshots fired by two former Lawton police officers, was a case of murder.

Sanders’ mother, Mina Woods, spoke Thursday of the impact from his death and those who pulled the trigger.

“This is an issue about the heart of man,” she said. “No parent should ever lose their child to someone who took an oath to protect and serve.”

On Thursday, Sanders’ family, joined by their legal counsel, S. Lee Merritt, and others gathered in the Lawton City Hall Banquet Room to address their plans to keep pressure on City of Lawton officials to stand by their decision to terminate Nathan Michael Ronan and Robert Leslie Hinkle from their posts as officers with the Lawton Police Department. 

Last week, collective bargaining arbitrators determined the men had been wrongfully terminated on Jan. 7, 2022. Woods asked that officials stand by their original decision and their words to the family that they would not back down.

“For once in the City of Lawton, Oklahoma, do not allow them to tip the scales of justice to ‘just us,’” she pleaded. “This was an atrocious crime.”

Merritt, a constitutional lawyer, is nationally known for his work on racial justice issues. He said Sanders’ killing is as important as the cases of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery regarding the targeted killing of Black men in America. Following the release of Hinkle’s body camera video of Sanders’ shooting death, national and international attention spotlighted this case.

“This family has been forced to join the national movement against police violence and making reform,” he said. “This case is the most important case in the country at this time.”

Merritt asked the citizens of Lawton “to demand justice” from city officials. The reinstatement of Hinkle and Ronan based on “an absurd perversion of the facts” would put a “mark on the city,” he said.

“I’m calling on the community to demand they be prosecuted and that they never wear a badge again,” he said. “These aren’t police officers, they’re murderers.”

Woods spoke of a criminal justice textbook she’d had that showed an image of the scales of justice weighted to one side. Commenting on how she believes those scales are balanced against many, she made a plea for justice.

“It is ‘just us’ who are targeted because of our colors or nationality,” she said. “Allow us, ‘just us,’ to get justice in this community.”

Noting that Hinkle and Ronan have families, Woods spoke Biblically regarding the sins of fathers passing to their children. She offered prayer for what their families are going through and for the officers to accept responsibility.

“I pray … they repent, and they choose to make recompense and admit what they did,” she said, “and accept the consequences.”

After seeing the body camera video of Sanders’ death, Michael C. Washington from the Oklahoma Coalition Against People Abuse said he became “horrified” and reached out to the family. He said it was a time for all citizens to take action by demanding justice.

“Justice is necessary,” he said. “Your family could be next, and we want to prevent that from happening.”

In speaking about the local NAACP chapter’s stance with those who spoke before her, Chapter President Sherene Williams said, “We concur.” She described what she saw in the body camera video as “what you call murder.”

“We expect justice for this family,” she said. “How you can help is to join in peaceful protests and, we reiterate, peaceful protests.”

Williams said the officers’ reinstatement to duty would feel like a threat to many in the community.

“If they are reinstated, I will not feel safe,” she said.

Ward 7 City Councilwoman Onreka Johnson assured those gathered that she and the council are listening. She knows Woods and knew her son. She invited citizens to take part in a citizens advisory board that is being assembled.

While Police Chief James T. Smith has assured the family that he will stand by the decision to terminate the officers, Merritt said it’s up to all citizens of Lawton to hold these city officials to their word. He said he and the family would be speaking to everyone at City Hall.

“We have a duty to fight for freedom,” he said. “We have a duty to win.”