Lovers of people shot by police at Argyle Forest hotel demand video release

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Loved ones of a man shot and murdered by Jacksonville police last week in an Argyle Forest hotel and the family’s attorney spoke out on Tuesday demanding a transparent investigation and the release of all video footage of the incident there is .

Attorney Marwan Porter and loved ones said at a news conference that Michael Hughes, 32, was a father of two little boys and a good person with mental illness.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Hughes was shot and killed by Officer JH Wing at the Quality Inn on Youngerman Circle on March 30 after Hughes took control of the officer’s Taser and stunned him.

The sheriff’s office said that both Wing and another officer who responded to the hotel were wearing body camera video. Porter also said he understands there were dash cameras and hotel surveillance in addition to the body cameras, so that’s why he and the family are calling for all the footage to be released.

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There was a domestic dispute between Hughes and his girlfriend at the hotel on March 30, and according to JSO Chief of Investigations TK Waters, officers were called to the hotel several times, the first time around 6:30 am and the last time briefly. after 12.30 pm

According to Waters, Hughes had come back into the room that time after leaving earlier, and when two officers arrived, Hughes refused to leave. Waters said the officers tried to take Hughes into custody and there was an argument with one of the officers for over 60 seconds, during which time Hughes yelled that he was going to kill him. Hughes’ girlfriend, Dawn Johnson, disputed at Tuesday’s press conference that Hughes shouted, “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you.”

According to Waters, Hughes gained control of Wing’s Taser and stunned him once, after which the officer fired several shots. Hughes fell on the officer again, and the officer fired several more shots, Waters said.

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When Hughes collapsed, Waters said, the officer handcuffed him and performed CPR until rescue personnel arrived and determined he was dead.

“At the moment I don’t know how to deal with anything. It was not meant to be that way. It should never have been like this. I miss him so much, ”Hughes’s girlfriend said. “We had our problems, we argued, things were frustrating, but I loved that man and he loved me.”

Hughes’ father, Timothy Hughes, said his eldest son was shot in the head, chest, abdomen and buttocks.

‘Why did the police take the footage from the motels and the backup footage from the motels? I want to see them. I want to see what they did to my son, ”he said. “I would also like to know why the police have two Tasers, two pepper sprays and two batons, but they couldn’t arrest a black man without violence and without a weapon. I’d like to know why they couldn’t arrest one black man with all those things under their arsenal. These are things I would like to know, and I would like to see the images of my son still alive, until the time he lived to the time he lay on the ground. “

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Johnson demanded to know “why did they have to shoot him so often?”

“I feel guilty for calling the police for help,” she said.

Porter insisted that Hughes was not a violent man, but “got into a fight with his girlfriend, and now he’s dead.” Porter said a nonviolent domestic dispute “should not be a death sentence.”

The family’s attorney said that if all evidence is released and it appears that the police acted legally, the family will accept it, but if they discover that the agents acted inappropriately, they will pursue justice in court.

Wing, who has been with JSO for two years, sustained minor injuries in the incident. During the investigation, he was placed on administrative leave, which is standard. The second officer did not fire his weapon.

JSO sent News4Jax the following statement regarding Tuesday’s press conference:

As you know, Chief Waters shared the available information shortly after the incident. This remains an active investigation, both within JSO and externally via the Public Prosecution Service. No new information is available for publication at this time, so we would respectfully decline an interview. “

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Porter said he has already requested access to all surveillance video and has not heard from the agency yet.

This was the third shooting involving police in Jacksonville in 2021 and the second to end in death.