BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man’s family is trying to get answers about what happened in the final moments of a multi-county pursuit with deputies that ended in his death.
Skyler Wentworth, who most recently lived in Brevard County, was shot by Citrus County sheriff’s deputies Friday in Marion County. Deputies say he had fled a traffic stop and threw a bag out of the vehicle, which they say turned out to be fentanyl pills, and he let a woman and child get out of the vehicle.
Deputies said about 10 miles into Marion County, Wentworth got out of the vehicle holding a rifle. That’s when deputies shot him.
On Monday, News 6 reporter James Sparvero talked with the 33-year-old’s mother who said she has some questions for law enforcement about the use of force.
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“I don’t understand,” Tammy Hathcote said. “Why couldn’t they have tased him? Why shoot him?”
Wentworth’s mother said she’s also devastated because of a lack of communication.
The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook that her son was shot to stop any further threat to the public or to law enforcement, but Hathcote said she hasn’t been able to talk to anyone who can answer her questions.
“I can’t get it. Nobody’s helping me,” Hathcote said about getting more information.
The sheriff’s office from the Gulf Coast county told News 6 its deputies don’t wear body cameras and their cars don’t have dash cameras.
News 6 has also requested video from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, which had joined the pursuit.
On Friday night, the Citrus sheriff said Wentworth had an arrest history in the county dating back to 2007.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident.
Hathcote said her family is now taking donations on GoFundMe so she can afford to bring her son’s body to Tennessee and bury him.
“All I can do is sleep. I don’t eat,” she said about grieving her loss. “I want to know what happened to my son.”
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