Just two months following the official apology of the Florida state to Leonard Cure who wrongly served 16 brutality long years for an armed robbery conviction, he unfortunately met his death from the gun of a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic interruption. This tragic incident happened merely by crossing the state boundary and landing in Georgia.
The Innocence Project of Florida issued a statement mourning the man with the forcibly shortened life, “Lenny’s life mattered. He and his family deserved better.”
Leonard Cure was on a voyage to restart the engine of his staggered life after the wrongful robbery conviction in 2003. This horrific journey ended on the side of Interstate 95 in South Georgia on an early Monday morning.
Camera footage unveiled by the Sheriff’s office of Camden County, Georgia, shows the events leading up to this unfortunate incident. The footage from the deputy’s body and dash camera reveals a car chase that lasted approximately a minute and 20 seconds after Cure overtook the deputy’s vehicle.
The footage includes the verbal exchange between Cure and the deputy, who pulled Cure over for allegedly speeding and reckless driving. When Cure refused to comply with the orders to put his hands behind his back, a taser was used against him, leading to a physical struggle between Cure and the deputy. The struggle concluded when the deputy’s weapon was discharged and Cure was shot.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that Leonard Cure later met his end. The Sheriff’s office responded by releasing the videos, emphasizing their transparency about the incident and use of force.
Following an independent investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation into the happenings of the tragic incident, the findings will be turned over to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for further examination.
Leonard Cure had managed to regain his freedom from prison in April 2020, and left his dark past of a life-imprisonment received in Broward County, Florida, for an unjust conviction of armed robbery.
Mary, Cure’s mother, shared with reporters the bitter irony of his release: “My baby was free. But the truth of the matter is that he never came home.”
Barely over half a century old, Mr. Cure had successfully reintegrated with his family, secured steady employment, and was calmly commencing a fresh journey in the outskirts of Atlanta. The compensation received from the wrongful imprisonment was reportedly being used to purchase his first home.
Renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Seth Miller, Director of the Florida Innocence Project, lent their support to the Cure family during this sorrowful phase. Crump lamented the unfortunate reality that the system had doubly failed Mr. Cure.
The family had also expressed their intentions to view the footage captured from the deputy’s camera. They hoped to privately meet with investigators prior to the public release of the footage, and after viewing wanted to discuss potential disciplinary steps against the deputy involved.
In more attempts to seek justice, the family believes that additional footage of the incident exists on social media. Crump, however, disclosed that a video of the traffic stop was on Facebook Live but seemed to have been plucked out of the platform.
Deep within the city of Dania Beach on the chilly dawn of November 10, 2003, a revolver-wielding man intruded a Walgreens store and escaped with $1,700 in cash. Not only were the descriptions provided by the store employees not matching, but an ATM receipt later revealed that Cure was miles away at the time of the robbery.
Eventually, Leonard Cure managed to secure his liberty in April 2020, after his sentence was adjusted to 16 years on time served. He was even granted compensation amounting to $817,000 for every year life had wrongly taken away from him.
However, the compensation now appears a mere pittance compared to the enormity of the tragic circumstances that followed as reflected by Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor, “After he was freed and exonerated by our office, he visited prosecutors at our office and participated in training to help our staff do their jobs in the fairest and most thorough way possible.”
