After spending 16 years in a Florida prison for a crime he did not commit, Leonard Allen Cure was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia during a traffic stop.
Reports state that Cure, 53, was pulled over by a Camden County deputy on Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida line. He was asked to get out of the car by the deputy in which he did. Reports also say that Cure began to cooperate until he was told that he was being placed under arrest.
The Georgia Bureau’s preliminary reports say that the deputy used his stun gun on Cure when he stopped listening to the deputy’s orders. The deputy then went to use his baton to subdue him after the driver was fighting back. The deputy then drew his gun and shot Cure as he continued to resist the arrest.
There are no reports on why the traffic stop was made, however, his death was confirmed by Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida. He said that he’s devastated to hear of Cure’s death after helping him in his exoneration case.
“I can only imagine what it’s like to know your son is innocent and watch him be sentenced to life in prison, to be exonerated and then be told that once he’s been freed, he’s been shot dead,” Miller said. “I can’t imagine as a parent what that feels like.”
Back in 2003, Leonard Cure was convicted of armed robbery of a drug store in Florida and was sentenced to life in prison due to having prior convictions for other robberies and crimes. In April of 2020 he was released from prison after the Broward State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found some discrepancies in the original case.
That following December, a judge would vacate the conviction and sentence. After being released, Cure said, “I’m looking forward to putting this situation behind me and moving on with my life.”
We will keep you updated on this story when more information becomes available. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.