Mom Sues Miami-Dade for Shooting Her 15-Year-Old Daughter During Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial Day weekend in 2016, Miami-Dade Police tracked a stolen Mercedes-Benz SUV to a Burger King parking lot in Carol City. When they stopped the teenage driver, he threw the SUV in reverse, striking a cop car. Two of the officers fired into the vehicle, which fled the scene.

In the Mercedes’ back seat, 15-year-old Jasmine Sairras nursed a gunshot wound on her hand. The front-seat passenger, 17-year-old Kaimari Dugue, had been shot in the head. The teens, who both survived, later said they had no idea the SUV driven by 17-year-old Tyrese Johnson had been stolen.

Two years later, Sairras and her mother, Yolanda Robertson, have sued Miami-Dade cops, saying the agency failed to properly train its officers about use of deadly force. “The Miami-Dade Police Department was negligent in the investigation, inquiry, approach, shooting and apprehension of the operator of the vehicle occupied by Jasmine Sairras,” the complaint says.

The case was filed late last month by Fort Lauderdale attorney Fred Fulmer. Neither Fulmer nor the Miami-Dade Police Department responded to requests for comment from New Times.

The two officers who shot Sairras and Dugue have never been publicly named. An initial press release describes the cops only as white males, one of whom had been with the department for two years, the other for nine. It’s unclear if or how either officer was disciplined.

Court records indicate that Johnson, the driver who fled the scene, was eventually charged with multiple crimes, including grand theft of a vehicle and resisting officers without violence. In January, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years of probation. Adjudication will be withheld if he complies with the terms of his probation.

As for Sairras, the now-18-year-old continues to suffer from her injury, according to the lawsuit. Her attorney argues she never should have been shot in the first place.

“… Under all the circumstances, it appeared that the use of force was not necessary in order to apprehend the vehicle and suspect,” the complaint says.

Miami-Dade Police have not yet filed a response in court. As of now, no hearings have been scheduled.