A family is demanding a “formal public apology” from Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes after their funeral was allegedly disrupted when deputies with his department wrongfully arrested a relative as they were looking for a suspect linked to a 30-year-murder case.
Per the New York Post, the incident occurred during the funeral ceremony for Kabem Smith in North Carolina. The man who was wrongfully arrested at the funeral was Smith’s brother, and the Sheriff’s Office thought he was the suspect linked to Rodney Cotton’s 1995 murder.
Responding to the May 15 incident in a statement, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to the location after receiving “information” about Cotton’s murder case “from multiple separate sources.”
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“The information was very detailed, which led Lee County Deputies to a location in Chatham County where Willard Eugene Smith (Suspect) was reported to be in the attendance of his brother’s funeral at Liberty Chapel Church,” the statement said.
Authorities claimed that tips they had received for nearly 30 years indicated that Willard Smith used multiple aliases that included the name Willard Partridge, which was a family member’s name. Authorities also said that Kabem Smith’s obituary named Willard Partridge as a surviving brother.
“At the end of the service when attendees were leaving, Deputies attempted to locate the suspect in a large crowd of individuals. There was a lot of confusion, hostility, and deception,” the statement claimed. “Deputies detained a male subject that matched the description of the individual that has been on the run for the murder warrant for almost 30 years.”
Authorities, however, later determined they had wrongfully arrested the man as he was not the suspect they were after.
“One male suspect was transported back to Lee County where a series of steps were taken to identify and confirm the identity of the individual detained,” the statement said. “Lee County investigators were able to determine that the individual was the brother of Willard Eugene Smith. That individual was released and taken back to his residence by Lee County Deputies.”
The statement added: “Our Office is still encouraging anyone to report information regarding the Murder of Rodney Cotton and the suspect’s location. With the persistence of our citizens and the dedication of our Deputies, we intend to bring closure to the victim’s family and we are committed to the pursuit of justice.”
Despite the allegations from the grieving family, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in their statement denied any “attempt to disrupt the funeral services,” claiming that during the incident, several people surrounded their cars in an “attempt to block them in.”
“They started banging on the hoods and rocking the patrol cars with Deputies inside,” the statement also claimed. “Attendees also attempted to use vehicles to block the exit route for the Deputies.”
But in a May 21 statement, Kabem Smith’s family said the incident that occurred at the funeral had left them “deeply traumatized.”
“What was meant to be a sacred and solemn moment of farewell for our beloved son, brother, cousin, friend and father was violently interrupted by an aggressive and unjustified action carried out by the Lee County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit,” the statement said.
“Acting on what we have since been informed was a false tip, armed officers stormed our private burial ceremony, threatening grieving family members, including elders and children, with drawn weapons and deploying tear gas. This excessive use of force against unarmed mourners not only desecrated our loved one’s final rites but inflicted lasting emotional trauma on an already grieving family.”
The family also said there was no “justification for this level of militarized aggression—no arrests were made, and no suspect in question was found.” “Our family, our grief, and the dignity of our deceased loved one were violated without cause,” the statement continued.
Besides the formal apology from Sheriff Estes, the family is also demanding a full, independent investigation into the events that unfolded.
“The community deserves answers and assurance that such an inhumane and reckless display of force will never happen again,” the statement said. “We are calling on local leaders, civil rights organizations, and members of the public to stand with us as we seek justice, accountability, and healing. What was taken from us cannot be restored, but those responsible must be held to account.”
