KEARNY MESA, Calif. (KGTV) — The family of a man shot and killed by a San Diego County deputy is calling for justice and transparency from the sheriff's department.
"I want answers. Why his life was taken? Why this way?" Jose Corrales said.
Corrales is the father of the victim, 31-year-old Mizael Corrales.
"I've been having nightmares. I couldn't sleep. I've been crying. I have to bury my own son in the cemetery," he said.
Friday, Corrales and his wife, along with their attorneys, held a press conference in front of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in Kearny Mesa to demand accountability from the agency for a shooting they believe was unwarranted.
"When we looked at the video, of the things we saw was Mr. Corrales was no threat to anyone," Bakari Sellers, one of the family's attorneys, said.
The sheriff's department released body cam video of the shooting a few days after the incident in February.
The San Diego Police Department, which investigated the shooting, said it started after deputies spotted what they said was a stolen car at a strip mall in Otay Mesa.
Police said Mizael, who was in the driver's seat, backed up the car, knocking deputy Anthony Garcia and another deputy to the ground.
As he drives away, Garcia fires his gun into the car and kills Mizael.
"The car was passing by. That in and of itself was an indication that the officer's life was not in danger when he fired those shots," John Burris, another family attorney, said.
Along with more transparency, attorneys demand the department fire Garcia.
"We want a complete criminal investigation. We want an investigation into the patterns and practices of this office," Sellers said.
Mizael leaves behind three children. His father said he was also heavily involved in his family's church.
"I just want justice," Rosauia, Mizael's mother, said in Spanish. "I want his name to be cleared so in the future when my grandkids grow, they don't hear he's a bad person."
The San Diego District Attorney's Office tells 10News that the case is still under review.
10News also reached out to the sheriff's department for a response to the family's allegations.
We have not heard back.
