By Tavon N. Thomasson
Special to the AFRO
tthomasson@afro.com
The mother of Bilal “BJ” Abdullah filed a civil lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court on March 11 against three Baltimore police officers involved in her son’s fatal shooting last year.
Standing outside the Elijah Cummings Courthouse at 111 N. Calvert St., Bilal Abdullah’s family and their attorney announced a civil action against Baltimore police officers Omar Rodriguez, Ashley Negron and Devon Yancy. The lawsuit alleges the officers used “excessive, unnecessary, or unreasonable force” when they shot the well-known arabber multiple times during their encounter on June 17, 2025. The complaint includes five counts, including wrongful death, battery and violations of Abdullah’s constitutional rights.
“For us, this is about more than our lawsuit; it’s about pushing accountability for officers who are killing people in the Black community,” said Alec Summerfield, an attorney for Abdullah’s family. “We want to see these officers removed, we want to see them fired, and we want to see them criminally tried.”
According to previous AFRO reporting, “… police allege that the suspect fired a shot, hitting an officer in the foot. The other three officers reportedly returned fire, shooting several rounds of ammunition back at the man and striking him.”
In a statement released on Dec. 23 by the Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division (IID), officials said, “After completing its investigation and evaluating all the available evidence, the Office of the Attorney General has determined that the subject officers did not commit a crime under Maryland law. Accordingly, the Attorney General has declined to prosecute any of the officers in this case.”
Summerfield said he and the family believe the attorney general’s office did not conduct a thorough enough review before deciding not to bring charges.
“Their report was only nine pages. It was incredibly perfunctory, and it was just essentially a manipulation of facts to support their conclusions that they wanted, which were not to charge these guys,” said Summerfield.
The family is currently seeking compensatory damages “in an amount to be determined at trial for the conscious pain and suffering” its members say they have experienced as a result of Abdullah’s death.
According to the family, Rodriguez has added to this emotional harm and frustration because of his involvement in another police shooting after returning from administrative leave. On Feb. 24, he and Officer Auther Fuog discharged their service weapons and fatally shot 37-year-old Dwight Hawkins.
“He is using his badge as a legal way to justify killing young Black men,” said Joy Alston, mother of Bilal Abdullah, during the press conference.
Rodriguez has been placed on administrative leave once again for his role in the Dwight Hawkins case, which remains under investigation by the attorney general’s office. The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) has also released the body-camera footage of the events from that night.
Taj Abdullah, Bilal Abdullah’s younger brother, described Rodriguez’s quick return to duty as a “slap in the face” and questioned whether he had received enough counseling before returning to work.
“Who’s to say that he didn’t see similarities my brother’s case and the Dwight Hawkins case, and that it caused him to shoot quicker because he didn’t have the proper classes or treatment,” said Taj Abdullah.
For the Abdullah family, the fight is not only about justice, but also about getting answers and finding some measure of closure.
“We’re still going through this a year later,” said Taj Abdullah. “We’re not able to close this chapter in our book because there are still so many open questions and so much misinformation that was given to us.”
According to Summerfield, the next phrase in the family’s civil lawsuit will center on discovery and obtaining additional evidence related to the shooting. He said the family plans to seek text messages, surveillance footage and other investigative material to strengthen its case and pursue justice for Bilal.
The AFRO reached out to the BPD for comment regarding the lawsuit but did not receive a response by the time of publication.