ST AUTUSTINE BEACH — Fifty-three year old Florida man Cary Lloyd Martin was going through a difficult time.
His girlfriend became concerned for his safety and called the police because he was threatening suicide.
The St. Augustine Beach police arrived and shot him dead.
RELATED: Body Cam Footage Shows Police Executing Mentally Ill Man With Screwdriver
Because the lawn was overgrown, according to spokesman Chuck Mulligan, the cops “staged” themselves around it.
A standoff ensued.
The cops were able to contact the man by phone.
“The officer said the suspect inside said he would come out several times and comply with commands to let us help him,” Mulligan said.
“The negotiations continued and when he did finally walk to the door, deputies saw he had a rifle in his hand.”
“However, when he was exiting the house he was armed with a rifle and they did in fact engage with that individual with gunfire,” he continued.
The victim was taken to a hospital but died later.
The two deputies who killed him are Sgt. Earl Edenfield III, a thirteen year veteran and Joshua Butler, who has been with the department for a year and a half. Both have been given a paid vacation until they can be found to have done nothing wrong.
St. Johns County resident Kaitlyn Christine Lyons also called police on the non-emergency line on behalf of a suicidal boyfriend, Justin Edward Way.
RELATED: Raw Video: Cops Execute Unarmed Mentally Ill Man on the Street
The cops arrived and killed him. Two deputies, Jonas Carballosa and Kyle Braig, arrived armed with assault rifles and told Lyons to wait outside.
According to Lyons they looked as though they were going into war.
The deputies say that Way tried to attack them with a knife. The family is skeptical. “If Justin was coming after them with a knife, at 6-foot-4, wouldn’t there be blood splattered all over the room?” asked a family member.
They contend that all the blood was on Justin’s mattress, and that there was no blood on the walls or floor. They believe that a bullet hit the mattress and was dug out, citing a hole found in the middle of it.
The narrative of police being called to help a mentally ill or suicidal person who then proceed to kill them is becoming all too common.
Often these people are innocent of any wrong doing, and unarmed. In Gretna, Florida Donald Kaldrick‘s mother called the police to help her make him take his meds.
A lone cop arrived and killed him.
In Utah Jose Calzada called a suicide prevention line for help and a SWAT team went to his house and killed him.
In Kansas Joseph Jennings became suicidal and cops killed him too. It is not clear whether he was armed.
In Idaho suicidal man Eric Byron was shot by those who came to “help”.
Listing all of the cases just from 2014 and so far in 2015 would require a lengthy article.
People please take note. Calling a cop to help a suicidal or mentally ill person is like throwing gasoline on a fire.
Watch the video below of a cop shooting a mentally ill man who was holding a screwdriver, after the man’s mother called for help.