Family of exonerated Black man killed by Georgia deputy is suing deputy, sheriff

The family of a Black man shot and killed by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop in October filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking more than $16 million in damages over assertions that the deputy used excessive force and the sheriff who employed him ignored the officer's history of violence.

Leonard Cure, 53, was killed three years after Florida authorities released him following a 16-year prison stay for an armed robbery he did not commit.

The civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court comes after Cure was killed on Oct. 16 in a struggle with Camden County Sheriff's Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge, who pulled him over for speeding on Interstate 95.

"It's a terrible day when the citizens have to police the police," Mary Cure, Leonard's mother, said at a news conference Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in coastal Brunswick.

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Law enforcement administering aid to Leonard Cure, 53, after a physical altercation with a Camden County Sheriff's Office deputy, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Camden County, Georgia. (Camden County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The lawsuit names Aldridge and Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor as defendants, claiming they violated Cure's constitutional rights. The lawsuit accuses Aldridge of using excessive force during the traffic stop by shocking Cure with a Taser before Cure started retaliating physically.

It also claims the sheriff created an "unnecessary danger and risk of serious harm or death, with deliberate indifference" by hiring Aldridge and keeping him in uniform despite previous uses of unlawful force.

An attorney for Aldridge, Adrienne Browning, previously said he is a "fine officer" who shot Cure in self-defense.

Dash camera and body camera footage of the incident show Aldridge shocking Cure with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be handcuffed. Cure then fights back and puts his hand at the deputy's throat before Aldridge shoots him point-blank.

Police dashcam footage shows a traffic stop involving a sheriff's deputy and Leonard Cure on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Camden County, Georgia. (Camden County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation following the shooting, which is common practice in the state for shootings involving law enforcement officers. Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins is still reviewing the GBI's findings and has not decided whether to seek criminal charges, according to spokesperson Cheryl Diprizio.

"We don't need to wait for the district attorney before we move forward," said Harry Daniels, the civil rights attorney suing on behalf of Cure's family.

Aldridge has been assigned to administrative duties with the sheriff's fleet maintenance office pending a decision by prosecutors.

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Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge (pictured) is accused in the lawsuit filed by Cure's family of using excessive force and being unfit to serve as a law enforcement officer. (Camden County Sheriff's Office via AP)

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Cure's relatives have said he likely resisted because of psychological trauma from his imprisonment in Florida for an armed robbery he did not commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.

Lawyers for Cure's family said Sheriff Proctor should never have hired Aldridge after he was fired by the neighboring Kingsland Police Department in 2017 following a third discipline for using excessive force. Proctor hired him nine months later, according to personnel records.

Video from a June 2022 pursuit that ended in a crash shows Aldridge punching a driver who is on his back as he pulls the driver from a wrecked car. No disciplinary actions were taken against the deputy in that incident, records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.