By Matt Ferner

A federal lawsuit filed Monday claims the last words that 19-year-old Zachary Hammond heard were from a Seneca, South Carolina, police officer shouting, “I’ll blow your fucking head off.” Seconds later, the officer unloaded two bullets into the unarmed teen, killing him as he sat in his car in the parking lot of a Hardee’s on July 26.

Hammond’s parents are now alleging in U.S. District Court that Lt. Mark Tiller unjustifiably killed their son during an undercover police drug sting gone wrong. 

The Seneca Police Department, Tiller and police chief John Covington are all named as defendants. The suit, filed in the Anderson division district court for the District of South Carolina, seeks unspecified damages.

The complaint makes a series of deeply troubling accusations against Tiller and other officers who responded to the fatal shooting.

After Hammond’s body was placed on the ground, Tiller was allegedly observed walking to the trunk of his own patrol car and removing “something from the vehicle that fit into the palm of his hand.” He then placed that item on or near Hammond’s body, the suit claims, before rolling the body back to its original position. 

The suit claims Hammond’s body would remain there for almost 90 minutes, “uncovered and unprotected” and “ravaged by ants” while the police processed the crime scene.

Other officers were then seen consoling or celebrating with Tiller, the suit alleges. Another officer on the scene, former Seneca officer Anthony Moon, who resigned shortly after the shooting and is not a defendant in the lawsuit, purportedly raised Hammond’s lifeless hand and gave it a “celebratory high-five.”

The suit also addresses the Seneca Police Department’s contention that Hammond was in possession of cocaine at the time of this death.

“At worst, and assuming that [it] was not placed on his person, Zachary was in simple possession of drugs,” the complaint …read more

Source:: Weed Feed