Family, friends mark three years since deadly police shooting of Eric Logan

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind., --- Family, friends, and supporters gathered Thursday to mark three years since the deadly police shooting of Eric Logan.

The 54-year-old car break-in suspect was killed by then-sergeant Ryan O’Neill of the South Bend Police on June 16, 2019 outside the Central High Apartments on Colfax Ave. in downtown South Bend.

O’Neill was never directly charged in Logan’s death, but the shooting sparked calls for change city-wide.

Thursday, family and friends came together to remember his life three years later.

“I miss my son. I think about him every day, in fact I look at him every day. I got a picture of him and looks like his eyes follow me all around the house. So, I wish he was here,” said Eric Logan’s mother Annetter Newbill.

Newbill was among other family members and friends who got emotional during the gathering.

The memorial marked exactly three years since Logan was shot and killed by a South Bend police officer.

“It’s a big day. You’ll never forget it. Wake up every day thinking about him, my daughter wakes up every day thinking about it. It’s hard sometimes I can’t say nothing,” said Lashawn Logan, Eric Logan’s Son.

“He’s never forgotten and that’s what we’re celebrating today,” added Eric Logan’s brother Demetrice Logan.

The death of the 54-year-old black man ignited racial justice protests across the city, sparked the creation of South Bend’s Black Lives Matter chapter and renewed calls for change within the South Bend Police Department.

Logan’s family told ABC57 they’re still echoing those same calls today while pushing for peace citywide.

“Eric Logan’s death was one of high news on the news, but the senseless crime and shootings that’s going on around town especially with the youth, we need to get a grip on it,” said David Reid, a family friend of the Logan’s.  

In the meantime, Logan’s loved ones said they’ll continue coming together every year at his memorial and carrying on his name through a youth basketball organization started in his honor.

“That’s why we made our organization, our brand locked in cause that’s what we are. We locked in as a family,” said his nephew Sahmetrice Logan.

“It’s very important that we do this every year for him because he will never be forgotten,” added his sister Charone Logan.

Now the family did file an appeal with a federal judge back in April in Logan’s Civil Rights case against the city of South Bend and they hope to get the case in front of a jury.

Logan’s family told ABC57 either way they won’t stop until they get justice.