Woman's Ashes Reportedly Thrown at LAPD Chief

Suspect is aunt of Wakiesha Wilson, who died in jail
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 10, 2018 7:10 AM CDT
Woman's Ashes Reportedly Thrown at LAPD Chief
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck speaks at a news conference on Oct. 4, 2016.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

"That's Wakiesha! She's gonna stay with you!" a relative of a woman who died in police custody shouted at a meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday, moments after throwing what appeared to be ashes at Police Chief Charlie Beck. The scene erupted with Beck, who was hit with the substance, being checked by medical officials and Sheila Hines-Brim being taken into custody. She's the aunt of Wakiesha Wilson, a 36-year-old who died in a police cell in March 2016. And though Wilson's mother said her sister only dropped a piece of paper to let Beck know that "he's a piece of trash," per ABC News, Hines-Brim tells CBS Los Angeles she threw her niece's ashes at Beck "so he can feel her, because he murdered her. They covered it up."

Police say Wilson, arrested for allegedly punching a person at a hospital, died of suicide by hanging. But her family, who won a $300,000 settlement, claims she was involved in a physical altercation with an officer, per the Los Angeles Times. Still, Beck, who did not require medical treatment, said the assault was "not only disrespectful to the Office of the Chief of Police, but more importantly to a process of community engagement." Of her arrest, Hines-Brim tells CBS, "I feel satisfied." She's charged with battery on a police officer, as is Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Los Angeles. Police say Abdullah struck an officer during the chaos, though Abdullah says she only touched an officer's arm while trying to ensure Hines-Brim wasn't mistreated, per ABC. (More Los Angeles stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X