ORLANDO, Fla. — It was an emotional Sunday night as loved ones gathered to honor Derek Diaz, who was shot one week ago by Orlando police.
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The family returned to the corner of Jefferson Street and Orange Avenue to hold a candlelight vigil and remember the 26-year-old father.
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Diaz’s daughter’s mother remembers him as a loving father who would do anything to make their five-year-old girl smile.
“His daughter had her first day of soccer today. He wasn’t there. She asked me for him, and we have nothing to tell her;,” said Yaneri Diaz Rodriguez, Diaz’s daughter’s mother.
On June 3rd, Orlando police said they were doing proactive patrols in the area known for drug activity in the early morning.
Authorities said they believed Diaz was in a car doing drugs, so they approached him.
According to investigators, Diaz quickly moved as if to retrieve a gun, so an officer shot him.
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Orlando Police said they did find drugs on Diaz but not a gun. He later died at the hospital.
While Orlando Police Department officers said it looked like Diaz was reaching for his gun when they approached him, his family said that answer wasn’t good enough.
His family is asking for transparency for closure, and that is why they are demanding the body camera footage of that night be released immediately.
As Derek Diaz’s loved ones stand beside a small memorial where the shooting took place, they said they wouldn’t stop pushing until they find out why they had to come there in the first place.
Yaneri Diaz questioned, “Why can’t we see the video?”
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The Orlando police said they do plan to release the video eventually. The policy is to do so within 30 days of an officer-involved shooting.
But there’s no exact day when they’ll do so in that timeline.
The Orlando officers involved in the shooting are on paid leave pending the investigation.
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