LDF Seeks 3 Million Dollars for Widow and Children of Nego Slain by Los Angeles Policeman
Press Release
September 24, 1966

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Press Releases, Volume 4. LDF Seeks 3 Million Dollars for Widow and Children of Nego Slain by Los Angeles Policeman, 1966. 6af20833-b792-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/a7e181e1-6874-42ec-969e-aaba6bcd7235/ldf-seeks-3-million-dollars-for-widow-and-children-of-nego-slain-by-los-angeles-policeman. Accessed May 06, 2025.
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10 Columbus Circle New York, N.Y. 10019 JUdson 6-8397 Legal Defense and Educational F und PRESS RELEASE S Hod wranca ka Hives Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg FOR RELEASE SATURDAY September 24, 1966 LDF SEEKS 3 MILLION DOLLARS FOR WIDCW & CHILDREN OF NEGRO SLAIN BY LOS ANGELES POLICEMAN LOS ANGELES---The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) filed a $3,000,000.00 damage suit this week against the City of Los Angeles in behalf of Barbara Jean Deadwyler. Mrs. Deadwyler's husband, Leonard, was shot and killed by police office J. M, Bova on Way 7, 1966 as he drove his pregnant wife to the hospital under the expectation that a child was about to be born. The suit asks damages for the wrongful death of Leonard Deadwyler and for emotional distress suffered by s. Deadwyler. Los Angeles police pursued the speeding car, which flew a white cloth from its radio aerial, for blocks before overtaking it. The suit, filed in Superior Court for the county of Los Angeles by Johnnie L, Cochran, Jr. of the Los Angeles bar, asserted that Officer Bova "negligently, recklessly, carelessly, wantonly and imprudently caused his service revolver to discharge in close proximit to plaintiff's body, thereby mortally wounding plaintiff's husband. Officer Bova approached the Deadwyler vehicle on the front passenger side. The LDF suit asks $1,250, children, $1,250,000,00 for Mrs, to the widow for “emotional an for the four Deadwyler minor Nv another $500,000.90 vjuries." Attorney Cochran was joined by attorneys Nelson Atkins of Los Angeles; Jack Greenberg, LDF Director-Counsel, and Leroy D. Clark of New York City. -30< Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 S e w : T P A P A R T a S E T R R