A 53-year-old man who was wrongfully convicted for nearly two decades and finally exonerated was killed during a traffic stop in south Georgia this week, authorities said.
According to preliminary information from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the incident happened on Monday morning around 7:20 a.m. when a Camden County deputy conducted the traffic stop on Interstate 95.
The motorist, Leonard Cure, exited the vehicle following the deputy’s orders. The incident escalated when Cure was informed that he would be under arrest.
“After not complying with the deputy’s requests, the deputy tased Cure. Cure assaulted the deputy,” the GBI’s statement said. “The deputy used the Taser for a second time and an ASP baton; however, Cure still did not comply. The deputy pulled out his gun and shot Cure.”
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Cure received treatment from first responders. However, he died from his injuries.
The Florida native has now lost his life after first wrongfully losing 16 years of freedom at the hands of the justice system. He received a sentence of life behind bars following an armed robbery conviction in Broward County, Florida, in 2003. He received that amount of time due to having prior convictions.
This conviction was overturned, and Cure was released from prison three years ago after the Broward State Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Review Unit in Florida pushed for his freedom, citing lack of evidence. He subsequently was exonerated and granted $817,000 by the state for his wrongful conviction earlier this year.
“I can only imagine what it’s like to know your son is innocent and watch him be sentenced to life in prison, to be exonerated and … then be told that once he’s been freed, he’s been shot dead,” Seth Miller of the Innocence Project of Florida, who represented Cure, told CBS News this week. “I can’t imagine as a parent what that feels like.”
The incident is currently under…
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