Ten Black Lives Lost to Racist Violence and Why Their Killers Still Walk Free

The great racial reckoning of 2020, with its corporate black squares and televised marches, was a fleeting performance. The proof isn’t in the hashtags that have long since faded; it’s in the rising body count.

Despite the global outcry following George Floyd’s murder, new data reveals a chilling and undeniable truth: American police are killing more people, not fewer, and Black Americans continue to bear the brutal brunt of that state-sanctioned violence.

The numbers are an indictment of every hollow promise of reform. In 2024, law enforcement took a staggering 1,365 lives, marking it as the deadliest year on record since comprehensive tracking began.

This grim toll surpasses the figures from 2023, 2022, and the very year that was supposed to change everything, 2020. For Black America, the statistics are a familiar, painful refrain. We are still being killed by police at a rate nearly three times that of white people, a disparity that has remained stubbornly fixed.

This report dismantles the comfortable narrative that a national “conversation” leads to meaningful change. It suggests that while corporate and political America was busy virtue signaling, the fundamental mechanics of policing not only resisted reform but accelerated their deadly trajectory.

The following analysis examines the data that proves this, and poses the deeply unsettling question: If the largest racial justice movement in a generation couldn’t curb police violence, what, if anything, will?

1. Jordan Neely (2023)

Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless Black man, was choked to death on a Manhattan subway train by Daniel Penny, a white former U.S. Marine. Neely, known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had been shouting about hunger and mental anguish before Penny restrained him in a chokehold for over three minutes.

Cellphone footage captured the encounter. Despite protests across New York and nationwide calls for justice, Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter. In December 2024, a jury acquitted him of all charges, citing self-defense. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Neely’s family is ongoing.

2. Jayland Walker (2022)

Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old from Akron, Ohio, was killed in a hail of police gunfire after fleeing a traffic stop. Officers fired 94 bullets, striking him 46 times. Bodycam footage showed Walker unarmed and running away when shot.

Authorities later claimed he fired a shot during the car chase, but no weapon was found on his body. A Summit County grand jury declined to indict the eight officers involved. The U.S. Department of Justice has not intervened, and the officers remain on administrative duty.

3. Patrick Lyoya (2022)

Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant, was pulled over by Grand Rapids police for a license plate mismatch. A struggle ensued after Lyoya tried to walk away. Officer Christopher Schurr wrestled Lyoya to the ground and fatally shot him in the back of the head.

The killing was captured on bodycam and bystanders’ video. Charged with second-degree murder, Schurr’s 2025 trial ended in a mistrial after a deadlocked jury. This summer, prosecutors dropped the charge, citing insufficient likelihood of conviction upon retrial.

4. Donovan Lewis (2022)

In Columbus, Ohio, 20-year-old Donovan Lewis was asleep in bed when officers serving a warrant entered his apartment around 2 a.m. Officer Ricky Anderson opened the bedroom door and shot Lewis within seconds, claiming he believed Lewis had a gun—none was found.

The incident prompted outrage, but more than two years later, Anderson has not been charged. The case was recently transferred to a special prosecutor after delays by the local district attorney.

5. Anthony Lowe Jr. (2023)

A 36-year-old Black man and double amputee, Anthony Lowe Jr. was shot multiple times by police in Huntington Park, California. Lowe, who used a wheelchair, was holding a knife and fleeing when officers opened fire.

The video showed Lowe moving away from police. The incident raised urgent questions about use-of-force policies, especially toward disabled individuals. The officers involved were not charged. His family has since filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, but no criminal justice has been served.

6. Breonna Taylor (2020)

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT in Louisville, Kentucky, was asleep when plainclothes officers conducted a botched no-knock raid at her apartment. Her boyfriend, fearing a break-in, fired one shot. Officers returned 32 rounds, striking Taylor six times.

None of the officers who fired were charged in her death. One officer was indicted for endangering neighbors by firing blindly, but was acquitted in 2022. In 2024, state prosecutors dropped renewed efforts to seek charges. The DOJ filed civil suits against the Louisville Police Department for systemic misconduct, but no convictions have followed.

7. Elijah McClain (2019)

Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was walking home in Aurora, Colorado, when police stopped him after a 911 call reported him as “suspicious.” Officers tackled and restrained him using a carotid hold.

Paramedics injected him with ketamine, and McClain suffered cardiac arrest. He died days later in the hospital. Three officers and two paramedics were eventually tried. One officer accepted a plea deal.

Another was acquitted and reinstated with back pay. None have received prison sentences. The DOJ also launched a civil investigation into Aurora PD’s practices.

8. Tyre Nichols (2023)

Nichols, 29, was pulled over in Memphis by the now-disbanded Scorpion police unit. He was brutally beaten for three minutes in a confrontation caught on surveillance and bodycam footage. Nichols died three days later in the hospital.

Five officers were charged federally and at the state level. In 2024, two pled guilty to civil rights violations. In 2025, three others were acquitted of second-degree murder but convicted of obstruction. Sentencing hearings are ongoing, and state murder trials remain unresolved.

9. Tamir Rice (2014)

Tamir Rice was playing alone in a Cleveland park with a toy gun when officers drove up and shot him within two seconds. The responding officer claimed he believed the toy was real. Video surveillance contradicted initial police claims.

Despite public outrage, no charges were brought. In 2020, the DOJ closed its long-running investigation, citing insufficient evidence for prosecution.

10. Alton Sterling (2016)

Sterling was selling CDs outside a Baton Rouge convenience store when two officers pinned him to the ground and shot him multiple times. Cellphone videos and witness statements conflicted with police reports.

Investigations by the Louisiana Attorney General and U.S. Department of Justice both ended without charges. His family received a $4.5 million settlement, but no one was held criminally responsible.