FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2013
CONTACT:
Andrea Prichett (Berkeley Copwatch)
Phone: (510) 229-0527 email: prichett@locrian.com
Diana Bohn (Coalition for a Safe Berkeley)
Phone: 510-525-5497 or 926-5871 email: nicca@igc.org
Who: Berkeley Copwatch, Coalition for a Safe Berkeley
Event Remembering/ Celebrating the life of Kayla (Xavier) Moore on her birthday
What: Birthday Memorial Celebration
When: 5:00pm, Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Where: 2116 Allston Way (near Shattuck Ave.) in Berkeley
and
What: Press Conference and delivery of the Public Records Act Request to the police station.
Where: 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley
When: 6:15 PM
On what would have been Kayla Moore’s 42nd
birthday, we invite all justice (and fun) loving people to join us for a
remembrance and get-to-know you event in celebration of her life. You see,
we are also forging a movement to demand justice for Kayla Moore. Since the
night of February 12, 2013 when police claimed to be responding to a call about
a “disturbance” on the 5th Floor of the Gaia Building in downtown
Berkeley, the BPD has provided almost no information about what happened
that night. According to the Coroner’s office, the BPD has asked that a “hold”
be placed on the release of the autopsy report. They say it could take 6-8
months to release.
Quote by Elysse Paige- Moore, stepmother: “Xavier had
a very difficult life, but an indomitable spirit. He suffered with mental
illness from an early age, struggling throughout his life with paranoid
schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress syndrome. He also had a near genius I.Q.
and a photographic memory. He was a poet and a gifted singer and oh could he
dance, even at 350 lbs! He was generous, and often took in homeless friends
giving them shelter and cooking 3 course gourmet meals for them. Despite his
challenges, he was resilient and resourceful. His spirit was unbreakable and
served as an example to everyone he touched.”
Demands of the Berkeley Police Department:
Release the police reports on the incident that took place on February 12-13th, 2013.
Release the Coroner’s Report.
Publish the investigation results.
Background:
As details of the tragic death of 41 year old Berkeley
resident Xavier Christopher Moore in police custody begin to emerge, residents
are asking why this person died and why police are slow to release information
in this case.
According to Berkeley Police, officers were dispatched for a
mental health evaluation at about 11:50 pm on February 12, 2013, although
neighbors on the same floor heard no disturbance until the police
arrived.
After officers appeared at Moore’s residence the situation
escalated, and shortly thereafter Moore died in police custody. Neighbors
observed officers carrying Moore on a gurney, unconscious and in restraints,
out of the building. In a city that is known internationally for disability
awareness, social consciousness and protection of civil liberties, it is
unacceptable that a mental health evaluation should end in death. The District Attorney says that since this is not an officer
involved shooting, they are not even investigating the case. We find all of
this unacceptable.
We are calling on the Berkeley Police Department to release
the police reports and the Coroner’s Report, and to publish the investigation
results on the incident that took place on February 12-13th, 2013.
If misconduct has occurred, officers must be disciplined. If it was a failure
of policy and administration, the public must be allowed to analyze the case
and to assist in addressing this breakdown in city services. In any case, we demand that the
Berkeley Police Department comply with Public Records Act requests and that
they make information about that night’s events available to the public as
quickly as possible.