Stephon Clark's Family Makes Emotional Plea As DA Ponders Possible Charges

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The grandmother of Stephon Clark made a tearful plea for justice for her grandson inside city hall, Monday morning.

"They didn't have to kill him like that. They didn't have to shoot him that many times," said Sequita Thompson.

Thompson described the night two Sacramento police officers shot at her grandson 20 times, in her backyard.

"All I heard was boom boom boom boom... I just heard it and got on the floor," she cried.

The emotional speech was part of a press conference organized by civil rights activists and the Clark family's high-profile attorney, Benjamin Crump.

"We will stand up for Stephon, we will speak up for Stephon, and we will fight for Stephon," said Crump.

Crump is calling for an independent autopsy of Clark's body.

"And they can tell if he was killed from the back or you know what was the point of entry that was fatal?" said NAACP CA President Alice Huffman.

Activists are also working with the Justice Department to launch its own investigation into the shooting, but they say they're still waiting on the Sacramento County District Attorney's office.

"Anne Marie Shubert district attorney, we do not give you a pass. You need to return the call of the NAACP," said Sacramento NAACP President Betty Williams.

The DAs office tells CBS13 it reviews all officer-involved shootings in the county. But the DA won't say whether she'll consider filing criminal charges against the two officers.

Police say they chased Clark to his grandmother's backyard last week after a 911 caller claimed he was smashing car windows in a South Sacramento neighborhood. The officers shot the 22-year-old- believing he was pointing a gun at them.

They never found a weapon. Only a cell phone.

"We been down this street before from Michael Brown in Ferguson, all the way to Trayvon Martin in Florida," said Rev. Shane Harris of the National Action Network.

For city officials, they're promising to do whatever they can.

"For me, Stephon could've been a friend of mine, and I can't imagine the horrible grieving and experience this has caused for his family," said Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen.