In Memory Of: Black Women Who Died Unjustly

Tarika Wilson

Unarmed, Tarika Wilson, 26, was shot and killed by a white police officer during a drug raid in 2008.  Police Sgt. Joseph Chavalia was part of a SWAT team that raided Tarika’s home in January of that year looking for her boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer who later pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. Prosecutors said Chavalia recklessly fired three shots into a bedroom where Tarika and her six children were gathered, even though he could not clearly see her or whether she had a weapon.

Tarika was holding her 1-year-old son in her arms when she died and the child was also shot and later had a finger amputated.  Officer Chavalia was acquitted of criminal charges in the young woman’s death and has since returned to work, though he is no longer allowed to patrol the streets. Tarika’s family has also settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the city for $2.5 million. Her death  ignited protests and debate about race relations in Lima, a northwest Ohio city, where one in four residents is black.