Greenville County SO bodycam shows deputies fatally shooting woman wielding knife; ruled justified

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Body-camera footage released Tuesday shows a deadly encounter between Greenville County deputies and a woman wielding a knife at K-Mart Plaza in Greenville in November.

On Nov. 23, GCSO deputies shot and killed Daziana Natasha Lewis, 21, after they said she pulled out a knife.

Greenville County EMS transported Lewis to PRISMA Greenville Memorial Hospital, where she died at 2:54 a.m., according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. Lewis died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Around 2:18 a.m., Greenville County Communications received a call from 6 K-Mart Plaza in Greenville. A woman called and said she was “planning on doing something stupid.”

When the 911 operator asked what the person would do, the woman responded, “I don’t really want to say.”

The operator then asked if the woman was feeling suicidal, and she responded by saying no, but “anything’s possible at this point.”

The final question the operator asked was if the woman would hurt any deputies, to which the woman responded, “Yeah, I would.”

Around 2:28, three GCSO deputies arrived at the scene. When exiting their cars, they started a conversation with Lewis.

As the conversation went on, Lewis brandished what appeared to be a knife and walked toward the deputies. The deputies then fired a Taser at Lewis.

On body-camera footage, after deputies failed to stop Lewis with their Taser, they drew their firearms and attempted to negotiate with her to drop the knife.

“Daizi, go ahead and put the knife down, ok?” a deputy on the scene said. “Go ahead and drop the knife so we can get you out of here. Just put the knife down, Daizi. We can call someone for you, we can get you a ride, we can get you something to eat.”

Dialogue from the deputies went on for minutes as they attempted to de-escalate the situation.

“What’s going on, Daizi? I don’t normally walk out with a knife like that, so what’s going on? You have a lot of people here concerned about you; just put it (knife) down and talk to us,” a deputy said. “Daizy what can I do for you right now, anywhere you need to go? You look cold, are you hungry? I have Taco Bell in my car, you want a bottle of water? It’s all yours if you want it.”

Body-camera footage timed at 2:37 a.m. showed the final negotiations between deputies and Lewis before she attempted to lunge at deputies a second time with the knife. Deputies then shot Lewis.

“You called us because you want to do the right thing. I think you know whatever’s going on right now is not how things should be. You want change in your life; you want a positive difference being made; let us help you,” a deputy said before Lewis lunged a second time and was shot.

Lewis was shot five times before falling to the ground. Another angle showed dash-cam footage of Lewis moving toward the deputies with the knife in hand. A photo toward the end of the video shows a kitchen knife with a red handle.

No deputies were injured. Greenville Sheriff Hobart Lewis said that the deputies' actions were justified according to the GCSO's use of force policy.

According to the GCSO’s Lt. Ryan Flood, the deputies have returned to patrol.