COLUMBUS, Ohio — The family and friends of Donovan Lewis gathered in downtown Columbus Saturday to fight for justice in his name.
Lewis, 20, was killed by Columbus Police officer Ricky Anderson in August after officers were serving an arrest warrant for him.
On Saturday, almost two months after his death, Lewis’ supporters gathered at the Ohio Statehouse.
"We need accountability,” said Marije Rivers, Donovan’s friend.
She said in order to make real change, more needs to be done rather than just marching and rallying together.
"Donovan's not the first he's not the last. It will be someone else, and the way that we can curb that is if we get this law in place to end qualified immunity so that these officers will think twice when pulling that trigger,” said Rivers.
During the rally and march, the group gathered signatures for a petition to end qualified immunity, which protects officers against lawsuits.
"There's no reason that he should be gone,” said Rebecca Duran, Donovan’s mother.
"Real change is going forward, it's part of what would be justice for him so that he could rest in peace so that hopefully no one else will go through the same thing,” said Duran.
Rivers said they will not stop fighting for justice until Anderson has been fired from the department.
Anderson is still on paid leave. Rivers said supporters of Lewis will band together every six months.
"Be assured that internal reviews will take place on every aspect after any criminal investigations conclude, and that the Inspector General has already committed to her own review after the criminal investigation," Mayor Andrew Ginther wrote in a statement last month.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is in charge of investigating the case. Once completed, the case will be passed along to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.
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