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Dozens of shirts patterned with red roses scattered among the crowd of mourners Saturday morning as friends and family gathered to say goodbye to Jarveon Hudspeth, the 21-year-old who was shot and killed by a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputy on June 24.
In the time since the fatal shooting, few details have emerged from law enforcement. Without a full understanding of what happened, friends and family have been unable to comprehend the SCSO story that Hudspeth attempted to flee from a traffic stop and ended up dragging a deputy 100 yards — with the deputy ultimately receiving a single, fatal shot. The officer was taken to hospital in critical condition after the brawl.
A feeling of confusion and disbelief ran through Hudspeth’s funeral service.
He was, said family member Shundrika Boone, extremely smart and driven. He attended Lipscomb University, a small private university in Nashville, for several semesters. He was obsessed with cars and studied engineering.
He possessed the kind of stubbornness that lent itself to independence and a refusal to give up when he had a goal in mind, Boone said. He loved his family and friends and was deeply loved in return.
“I can’t accept that you’re gone. Sitting still for too long burns through my soul, and I feel so weak and numb,” Boone said, reading from a letter written by Charlotte Haggett, Hudspeth’s mother to her son.
Boone also read letters written by Hudspeth’s two older siblings. His brother, Jonquette Haggett, who is currently in prison, wrote that he deeply regrets not being there to guide and guide his brother. Hudspeth’s sister, Senquel Hudspeth, also shared her grief.
“You were such a character with so much potential. I love you little boy,” she wrote.
d by a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputy, is calling for transparency from the office outside the Shelby County Courthouse at 201 Poplar.
A constant search for answers
Days before the funeral, family members gathered outside the Shelby County Criminal Justice Complex demanding transparency from the sheriff’s department. The family has also brought in attorney Benjamin Crump to represent them, bringing the total number of Shelby County families represented by the nationally known attorney to three.
SCSO has turned all questions over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Per protocol, TBI was contacted by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office after the shooting.
There is no typical timeline for the disclosure of additional details of a fatal shooting involving an officer after TBI took over as the primary investigative agency. Following Tire Nichols’ fatal beating in January, video footage from body-worn and dashboard-mounted cameras was released at an unprecedented rate.
If the investigation into Jarveon Hudspeth’s death follows similar patterns to other shootings involving local officers, it could be months or even more than a year before the public knows more.
Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering issues related to education, access and justice. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jarveon Hudspeth buried by family and friends as they demand answers
