The family of an elderly woman fatally shot by New Brunswick Police officers is demanding answers, but Mayor James M. Cahill and all seven elected members of the City Council are not talking about the slaying as protesters gathered outside the New Brunswick Municipal Court building.
The family of Deborah Terrell, 68, says she struggled with mental illness and that the shooting could have been prevented.
Protestors filled the street outside 25 Civic Square and filled a packed city council meeting to demand answers and accountability.
Her family believes the situation should have been handled differently.
Terrell’s two sons and her sister say they can’t understand why police used deadly force against a 68-year-old Black woman who, they note, was just 5’5″, 120 pounds, and physically unsteady.
Terrell was killed by New Brunswick police on Aug. 8 when they responded to a 911 call.
Terrell’s two sons and the victim’s sister say they can’t understand why the officers who responded to her apartment used deadly force. Those sons, Jermaine Terrel and Rahaman McCalla, say the 68-year-old Black woman was 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds.
Terrell’s sister, Linda McCalla, said the victim was not stable on her feet.
“Right now I’m devastated,” said Dupre McCalla, Terrell’s nephew. “My aunt meant everything to our family.”
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General says that police were responding to a report that a resident was walking around with a knife and threatening other residents on the fourth floor of the John P. Fricano Towers, a 14-story, 214-unit high-rise located at 90 Neilson Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
According to authorities, Terrell was holding a knife and threatening other residents when police used a taser and pepper spray before fatally shooting her.
Demonstrators chanted Terrell’s name in the streets and banged on the glass doors of the building, demanding entry, as several officers explained that the chambers were at capacity. Inside, hundreds of community members took turns expressing their anger and grief.
“It didn’t have to go like that,” said Terrell’s childhood friend, Wanda Stokes. “Four cops, one girl. They could have stopped this. She didn’t weigh more than me. She’s a grandmother. She’s a mother. She’s somebody’s sister. It really didn’t have to go like that.”
The Attorney General’s investigation revealed that officers who engaged Terrel at her apartment used a taser and pepper-spray before an officer shot her multiple times.
“According to the preliminary investigation… officers from the New Brunswick Police Department were dispatched to an apartment building on Neilson Street in response to a complaint about a resident walking around with a knife in the hallway,” according to the Attorney General’s statement.
The incident leading to the shooting was the second time police responded to the apartment that morning. The visit first was around 5 a.m., according to New Brunswick Today, but police left after knocking on the door and getting no response.
Born in 1957, Terrell grew up in the very same neighborhood, long before the apartment building opened in 1983. She moved into the high-rise in April 2022.
Residents who knew Terrell expressed outrage and suspicion after seeing comments by state officials posted to Facebook.
“She didn’t bother NOBODY,” said one Facebook user. “I knew this [woman for] over 30 years, she always stayed to herself. This is bogus.”
“I knew her for about 30 years too, and she used to babysit my daughter,” said another commenter. “Sweet woman, never bothered anyone.”
Others questioned why police used three different weapons on the senior: pepper spray, a taser, and a handgun.
New Brunswick Today reported that Mayor James M. Cahill and seven elected members of the City Council did not respond to requests for comment about the slaying of the elderly city resident by members of the New Brunswick Police Department.