Richmond said his cousin was lightly frisked by one deputy, and as he was walking away another deputy tried to grab him.
Thomas ran, with the deputy close behind, Richmond said, and soon after the two were out of sight between two houses, several shots were fired.
Richmond said he didn't believe his cousin was armed, but was not certain.
“I can't say for sure,” he said.
Sheriff's Lt. David Dolson said Thomas was a local gang member. Thomas, who did not fire his weapon, was pronounced dead at a hospital, he said.
Another cousin described Thomas as happy and ambitious, most recently employed as a security guard at a hardware store.
According to the family's attorney, John E. Sweeney, witnesses said Thomas was unarmed. Sheriff's officials have said Thomas turned around and faced them with a handgun, and that his gun was retrieved.
“If they claim they found a gun, I don't believe them for a second,” Sweeney said. “It's amazing this gun just appears out of nowhere when a sheriff's shooting occurs.”
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore called Sweeney's assertions “wrong.”
“The facts are a handgun was recovered,” Whitmore said. “His inflammatory remark is not only unnecessary but doesn't help the situation at all especially when you think about the family and the friends.”
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Since January 2007, at least 144 people have been killed by law
enforcement officers in LA County, according coroner's data.
Learn more about the cases on The Times' interactive Homicide Report.
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