AKRON, Ohio — More than seven months after her son was gunned down by Akron Police, Pamela Walker will attend President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address as a guest of U.S. Congresswoman Emilia Strong Sykes (OH-13) on Tuesday night.
The death of Walker's son, Jayland Walker, was the subject of national attention last summer after the 25-year-old was fatally shot by eight Akron Police officers who fired more than 90 shots at him following a chase. While the eight officers were initially placed on paid administrative leave, they returned to active duty in administrative roles this past October.
Seven of the eight officers involved were white. Walker is Black. An investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) remains underway and is expected to go to a grand jury in April.
"I don't want him to ever be forgotten," Jayland's mother Pamela told 3News' Bri Buckley on Monday night. "My heart is broken, it literally feels like only half of it is hanging there because it was ripped off on June 27th when they killed my son."
According to a release, in addition to the State of the Union, Pamela Walker will also participate in a closed-door session of the Congressional Black Caucus while in Washington D.C. The parents of Tyre Nichols, the Black man recently beaten to death by Memphis police officers, are also to attend the session, as are "others affected by the injustices that Black Americans continue to face nationwide at the hands of U.S. law enforcement."
Jayland Walker's sister, Jada, will also be at the State of the Union Address. Both Pamela and Jada say they want to see real change and are pushing for new laws to hold officers accountable.
"How many times do we have to go through this kind of misery? It doesn't make any sense, every black man should be able to grow old," Pamela said.
The Walker family told 3News that the death of Tyre Nichols reignited the ever-present pain of how they lost Jayland.
"What can we do to change this so moving forward, other sisters, mothers, brothers, whoever the relationship is, they don't have to go through it? Because it does not feel good at all, and I would hate for anybody to feel this way," Jada said.
"It's horrible to be beat to death, that's horrible. It's horrible to be shot down like an animal, that's horrible," Pamela added.
The incident involving Walker took place just after midnight on Monday, June 27, when officers attempted to pull over his car for a traffic and equipment violation. Walker proceeded to lead the officers on a high-speed chase down East Tallmadge Avenue toward State Route 8.
At some point during the pursuit, police say that Walker fired a gun out of the window of his car. Among the bodycam footage released last July was a traffic video that showed a flash coming out of Walker’s car that they say is consistent with a gunshot.
Following the six-minute-long chase, Walker exited the car on Wilbeth Road near the Bridgestone Tire offices while wearing a black ski mask. Bodycam footage shows officers attempting to deploy non-lethal tasers before firing their guns and striking Walker, who was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
Police said that they fired their guns because Walker made a motion that caused them to fear for their lives. Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said that while it is difficult to see in a real-time viewing of the video, screen captures from the footage show Walker making multiple movements -- including Walker moving his hand to his waist area, turning toward the officers and making a forward motion with his arm -- that he said that each officer involved believed to be Walker moving into a “firing” position.
A gun, magazine round, and gold wedding ring were found in the passenger seat of Walker’s car.