CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — The man who was fatally shot by a Camden County deputy during a traffic stop Monday, was wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years, according to the Innocence Project of Florida.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the deputy-involved shooting and identified the man killed as 53-year-old Leonard Cure.
The Innocence Project of Florida, a nonprofit organization committed to helping innocent prisoners regain their freedom, represented Cure when he was being exonerated for a wrongful armed robbery conviction.
Cure was shot and killed after he was stopped by a deputy along Interstate 95. He was driving back to his home in Georgia after visiting his mother in Florida, according to a statement from the Innocence Project of Florida.
Cure had been exonerated in December 2020 based on findings of "actual innocence" after he was wrongfully convicted in 2003 for an armed robbery at a Walgreens in Broward County, Innocence Project said.
An ATM receipt was used as evidence to prove Cure was miles away from the crime scene at the time of the robbery. Investigators also found that a group of photos of Cure shown to a robbery victim was an "unreliable, suggestive identification procedure."
Cure was recognized by the State of Florida as innocent and was ultimately exonerated.
Cure recently received compensation from the state on August 9 for the time he lost while he was wrongfully incarcerated, according to the Innocence Project.
"Most meaningful was that the State of Florida apologized to him for wrongfully taking his liberty," wrote Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida. "After his exoneration, Lenny reconnected with his family and started a new life outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He had held down a steady job since his exoneration and was in the process of buying a home of his own after receiving compensation."
The GBI said Cure resisted arrest, assaulting a deputy as he was being taken into custody.
GBI said Cure complied with the deputy's commands until he learned he was being arrested.
When Cure started resisting, he was tased. After he was tased, Cure assaulted the deputy, according to GBI.
The deputy used a taser for a second time and a baton on Cure, but he continued to not comply, according to GBI.
Then, the deputy pulled out his gun and shot Cure. He was treated by EMTs on site, but later died.
This is the 80th officer-involved shooting the GBI was requested to investigate in 2023.
"Lenny was a great person who had already lost 16 years of his life to wrongful incarceration. And now this," the Innocence Project of Florida stated in a news release. "He and his family deserved better. Lenny's life mattered. We are completely devastated."
