Family of exonerated man killed by Georgia deputy at traffic stop files lawsuit
The family of Leonard Cure, a Georgia man shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy three years after he was exonerated and freed from prison, has filed a federal lawsuit.
The family of a Georgia man killed by a sheriff’s deputy in October, three years after he was exonerated and freed from prison, has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff’s office and the deputy.
Leonard Cure’s family and their attorneys filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday, naming Buck Aldridge, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputy who fatally shot Cure, and Sheriff Jim Proctor. Along with seeking monetary damages, the suit claims that Aldridge and Proctor violated Cure’s Fourth Amendment rights when Aldridge stopped Cure and ultimately killed him on Oct. 16, during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida border, said Harry Daniels, one of the family’s attorneys.
The family is seeking $16 million — $1 million for every year Leonard Cure was wrongfully incarcerated for armed robbery. His death came after he was freed from a 16-year prison sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.
“All I really want is justice for my brother,” Michael Cure said in a news conference on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, it has to be financial compensation. But my brother deserves better than what he received in Camden County.” He added of Cure: “He was 100% exonerated. He was innocent. Only to be out three years and have an encounter with this racist, incompetent officer who took his life unnecessarily. Where’s the justice?”
Daniels cited repeated documented instances of Aldridge’s excessive use of force in the past. In 2022, he dragged a driver from a crashed car and punched him after the man fled from Aldridge on Interstate 95, according to The Associated Press, which noted that records indicated Aldridge faced no disciplinary action. The AP relied on body and dashcam footage to detail the incident. In 2017, Aldridge was fired by the Kingsland Police Department for throwing a woman to the ground during a traffic stop and handcuffing her, the AP reported. That termination came after two previous unnecessary force violations, the AP reported. Aldridge was hired by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in 2018, according to the AP.
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