'This family won't rest': Family of man killed in deputy-involved shooting demand answers

The family of Terrance Maurice Sligh, the man who was killed in last week's officer-involved shooting at 4307 Edwards Rd in Taylors, held a press conference Monday, demanding more answers and evidence, including body and dash camera footage from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

The event was organized by Sligh's family in conjunction with Bruce Wilson of the Fighting Injustice Together initiative and held at the Jud Hub Social Innovation Center on Easley Bridge Rd in Greenville.

Sligh's mother, Debra Roberts, said the 34-year-old man was suffering from a mental health crisis during the Sept. 28 incident. While he promised to help the family find out the truth, Wilson said law enforcement officials should be responsible for responding to Sligh's family.

"I shouldn't be the one, though, that should make that promise," Wilson said. "That should come from the individuals who took [Terrance Sligh's] life. The Sheriff of this county, SLED and others, should make that promise to her.

"We can give benefit of the doubt, but that benefit is running out. If this was a good shooting, show it," he later added.

Wilson and Sligh's family voiced frustration over a lack of transparency by investigative agencies.

An Oct. 4 request by the Greenville News for the number of shots fired, both those directed at and those that struck Sligh, was denied by SLED, which cited an ongoing investigation.

The family said its requests to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office for dashcam footage within 45 days from the date of the incident and bodycam footage were also denied.

A request was also denied by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office to provide the number of gunshots that Sligh sustained, Wilson said. A copy of the Case Report by the Coroner's Office did not contain any narrative or medical details other than Sligh died from "multiple gunshot wounds."

"I just want the truth, good or bad. What happened to my child? A wild animal doesn't deserve to be shot at that many times," Roberts said. "And you can't tell me why? You can't tell me how many times? You can't tell me if he did something to you to even warrant this?"

Body cam footage is not legally required for procurement by law enforcement under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (SC FOIA). At a Sept. 28 press conference, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said that the dash cam footage would be released after 45 days.

The Greenville News has filed a request under SC FOIA to SLED and the Sheriff's Office for all information relevant to the investigation of the incident. The Sheriff's Office denied the request, citing an ongoing investigation.

"Standard with all of our officer-involved shootings, the investigation is being investigated by a separate agency, in SLED," said Lt. Ryan Flood of the Sheriff's Office. "With that, we will be providing more information, including all relevant video and audio through our Critical Incident Community Briefing Video, which will release on Nov. 12 at 8:00 am on our YouTube channel."

Among those who spoke Monday were Sligh's mother, Debra Roberts, his grandmother, Sarah Ann Roberts, and his daughter Tamya Sligh, 17. He is also survived by three other children, who were all present at Monday's press conference.

"There was a couple things I was looking for [in the Sheriff's statement] that was not said: not once did I hear the fact that 'Terrance pointed a firearm.' I didn't hear anyone say that he shot the gun. Usually, when we have these types of cases, those are the first things that are spoken: 'He pointed a firearm on us and we had no choice' or 'He was the first one to shoot and we had no choice' - I didn't hear those," Wilson said.

Wilson also challenged several aspects of official law enforcement statements surrounding the incident that led to Sligh's death, including Lewis' Sept. 28 claim that Sigh was visiting a family member, possibly his mother, at the Edwards Rd. apartment complex where the incident took place. Roberts said she lives in the Columbia area, and Wilson said Sligh lived alone at the Edwards Rd. address.

Here's what we know about the Sept. 28 incident in Taylors

The officer-involved shooting happened during the morning hours of Wednesday, Sept. 28. Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis spoke to the media later that day. He said the incident stemmed from a response to a warrant service for a man suspected of threatening an ex-girlfriend.

Lewis said the man, later identified as Sligh, had sent the ex-girlfriend a picture of a gun.

"He wasn't trying to hurt anybody, he just wanted help," Debra Roberts said. "He didn't want this. None of us did. He has four beautiful daughters that love him dearly and that he loved dearly."

"I just want to know how a phone call works, because how do you go from following somebody to give them a warrant for their arrest, to following them down the street and killing them?" Tamya Sligh said. "The officer could've stopped my dad, he could've gave him whatever they had to [give] him, but they went with the intent to hurt him."

Wilson said the family will continue to pursue body camera footage.

"I assure you this family won't rest. We're going to get to the truth one way or another," Wilson said.

Authors note: The quote by Tamya Sligh was previously incorrectly attributed to a different child of Terrance Sligh.