It’s Saturday night, Jan. 10 at The Annex on Taylor Avenue in Evansville. Family and friends of Everett Nunn are gathered for music, comfort food and of course cake.
It’s almost time to sing “Happy Birthday,” so the DJ is starting to call everyone back to the room.
They’re celebrating the life of the man who was shot and killed on November 22 in his home by an Evansville Police officer. This was the first birthday and holiday season without him.
“I am so heartbroken over this,” said Karen Robinson, Nunn’s eldest sister. “My brother deserves justice. He deserves it all because he should not have went out like that.”
Nunn was shot six times by the officer, after he appeared holding what looked like a handgun. The object was not a gun — but a gun-shaped ashtray, according to the family.
In the video released by police, it appears as if the officer didn’t announce himself to the home. While the Evansville Police Department (EPD) suggests Nunn was given time to drop the gun-shaped-object, the family feels not enough time was given for Nunn to comply with orders.
Since the incident, they’ve been attending city council and police commission meetings to ask questions.
Maria Groves, one of Nunn’s daughters, said not much has been learned from these meetings.
“As far as we know, all they're waiting on is toxicology reports and then they are going to hand it over to the police commission,” Groves said.
Soon after the incident the EPD released the officer’s body cam footage. It shows the officer responding to a 911 call. There had been a domestic disturbance at their home.
Within a few seconds after entering the home, Nunn was shot. Nunn’s partner of 28 years, Nina Anzalone had placed the call.
“I need everyone to understand that the day I called the police, I did not think that what was going to happen would happen,” she said. “I just needed someone to deescalate the situation.”
The call was due to a confrontation between their son Dredon, and Everett.
Jaida Nunn, another daughter of Everett’s, reminded her that they’ve retained an attorney and they should limit such discussion.
The family is suing the city. Son Dredon Nunn said it’s about better police policy, and police following the policy they have already.
“So why did he not come and do all the policies that he was supposed to? There's knock warrants today — why didn’t he say who he was when he was entering the home? Why just 0.012 seconds after giving his command, did he shoot my father six times?”
Dredon said some may believe the lawsuit is about money.
“No matter how much money that we get, we can never get our dad back,” he said. “Me and my sister are going through many sleepless nights of not seeing our father.”
EPD Public Information Officer Anthony Aussieker said they cannot comment on pending litigation.
He said via email that they’re also waiting on the toxicology reports, in which they’re at the "mercy of the lab."
In a recent appearance on WNIN-PBS, EPD Chief Philip Smith commented generally on officer-involved shootings.
"Since 2018 we've had 23 officer involved shootings here in Evansville. In every such case, if you look at the circumstances involved, the person was either wielding what can be used as a deadly weapon or perceived as what can be used as a deadly weapon, or it was a situation in which the officer — that's the course of action that the officer felt that they had to take," Smith said.
"And in every one of those cases, you have two independent parties that can look at this — our police merit commission that can look at the officers, the officer's actions from an internal standpoint and policy standpoint, and you have the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office — they can look at it from a criminal standpoint. In each of these with exception of the last two — because those are still pending — have all been cleared as justified incidents."
The Nunn family has also mentioned a third-party investigation into this current incident — but few details about it.
While the family is grieving there is still a spirit of joy at his birthday party.
“His life was taken from us before he even got to turn 60," son David Simmons said. "We're just trying to represent him in an accurate way, because he was a pillar in the community.”
In the meantime, the family and supporters will continue to attend meetings while waiting for the results of the full investigation and pending litigation.
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