The fight for transparency and accountability continues over Deborah Terrell police shooting

Graphic credit: An infographic titled, “Police killings per 1 million people in New Jersey, 2013-2025,” last updated Sept. 15th, 2025. Image credit: Mapping Police Violence.

Trenton, NJ - On October 2nd, a small group of concerned citizens with family members held a demonstration outside the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex to demand police accountability for the fatal shooting of 68-year-old Deborah Terrell in New Brunswick on August 8th. 

Led by Terrell’s nephew, Tormel Pittman, this demonstration, part of an ongoing protest vigil since the death of Ms. Terrell, again calling for the state to hold the police to account for the persistent police killings and brutality disproportionately directed toward Black and Brown people, and for greater police accountability and transparency.

A New Brunswick mother and grandmother, Terrell was shot by police officers responding to a report of a woman walking around with a knife in her senior living apartment building on Nielson Street. Terrell’s family members claimed she had a long history of mental illness, reportedly schizophrenia.

Police body camera footage of Terrell’s shooting was revealed by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in a press release on September 3rd. The video marks at 7:41am when Ms. Terrell answered the door, holding the knife. When one of the officers asked her to drop the blade, she slammed the door on them.

At 7:47 a.m., Terrell came out waving the knife and the officers used pepper spray and a Taser on her. When Terrell’s back was turned, an officer shot her from afar. Her body was then pixelated out of view as she collapsed to the floor, still alive. Terrell was then transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The identities of the police officers have not been revealed by the Attorney General’s Office, which stated this is, “due to threats being made against them.” Thus, their faces and badges were blurred in their body cam footage. Though the footage cuts as one officer handcuffed Terrell, a video taken by a bystander shows the officers dragging her across the floor as they made their way to the elevator. 

The decision by the Attorney General’s Office not to show the complete, unaltered body cam footage has sparked backlash. Pittman revealed that Terrell’s three sons, Rahaman McCalla, Jermaine, and Shaun, have filed a lawsuit to receive a copy of the full body cam footage. Pittman also expressed his distrust over lack of full transparency about the incident with Terrell.

“...They said they were going to be transparent,” Pittman said in an interview. “And we now notice that something crucial transpired during that footage that they elected not to show it. She was handcuffed and dragged down the hallway. So for some reason, the Attorney General's office didn't think that that was important to show. So where we can't trust the investigation, we can't trust the handling of the case at all.”

Since the Attorney General’s Office did not reveal the full details of Terrell’s shooting, Pittman and his supporters have had to carry out their own investigation of the incident. Pittman has allegedly identified three of the officers as Rodney Chiang, Eric Brown, and Daniel Williams.

Photo credits: (Left) Tormel Pittman speaking at the demonstration; (Center) Demonstrator holds a sign that reads, “Say Her Name Deborah Terrell”; (Right) Demonstrator holds a sign that reads, “Justice for Deborah Terrell,” outside the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, NJ, on October 2, 2025. Photo credits: Anthony Orlando.

At this point, none of the officers are facing criminal charges for Terrell’s death. Cal, one of the demonstrators at the Justice Complex, recounted frustration after seeing one of the officers involved in Terrrell’s shooting walking free at the New Brunswick Municipal Court. This happened as a group of friends were charged at the court for staying in a park after dark.

“I see Rodney, one of the literal murderers of Deborah [Terrell], standing there and in court,” said Cal. “So meanwhile, I'm seeing my friends get charged... I think people get arrested, and they have one too many parking tickets. Meanwhile, a literal killer is standing there and escorting them out of the court. So I want to say, like in front of this Justice Complex building, “What kind of justice is that?” 

It is unknown why these officers did not have a mental health professional accompany them to Terrell’s apartment. The NJ ARRIVE Together program, which operates in all 21 counties in the Garden State, pairs law enforcement officers with a mental health screener to respond to 911 calls involving behavioral health crises, reducing escalation and violence.

However, according to the Attorney General’s Office, under this program, “traditionally, an officer interacting with an individual in crisis could either call a screener and wait for them to arrive on scene, or consistent with the law, make the decision themselves to transport the individual (voluntarily or involuntarily) to the hospital.”

It is unclear whether a mental health specialist was unavailable to help Terrell or if the officers chose not to call or wait for one. The fact that the full body cam footage wasn’t released has made it more difficult for the public to determine whether or not the officers were following proper police protocols.

“I think that they should release all the footage that they have to let us know what transpired so we can make an assessment,” said Pittman. “But the fact that they left us a crucial part of that footage out, there's more, you know, tells us that we can't trust their handling of the police... and if they're unbiased and they're supposed to be neutral, then we should have seen everything that's important.”

Terrell’s death is one of multiple instances of police killings of Black people experiencing mental health crises in New Jersey. This unfortunate trend includes the deaths of Najee Seabrooks and Andrew Washington.

In 2025, police officers throughout the U.S. reportedly killed 196 Black people, who are 2.8 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. In the Garden State, Black people are 5.6 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. Thus, from 2013 to 2025, there were a reported 66 people killings of Black people per 1 million people in New Jersey alone. 

At the demonstration in Trenton, Ronald Long, an activist who was wrongfully convicted for murder and spent 36 years in prison, discussed having seen many other police killings of Black people like Terrell.

“Could have been my daughter. Could have been my sister. Could have been my mom. Could have been my wife…Killers with badges and guns…I've seen it over and over in my lifetime,” said Long. “I say this is like the same movie. I've seen it before, and I'm sure that we will see it again.”

The investigation into Terrell’s shooting is still ongoing. However, as long as the officers involved in her death avoid accountability and the Attorney General’s office fails to reveal everything related to her shooting, this case won’t be closed for those affected.

“Our family can't sleep,” said Pittman. “And it makes all the sense in the world for us to make sure that no one else can sleep as well as we can…. We're not going anywhere. Even if they wrap the case up, even if they charge all the officers, if they exonerate all the officers, we're still going to be here because it's not about getting officers indicted. It's about dismantling a corrupt system.” 

Public Square Amplified will continue to follow this story as the legal case progresses.