Kendra Diggs, 37
Baltimore, Maryland
May 08, 2013
Agencies: Baltimore Police Department Maryland
Cause of death: Shooting
Last updated: about 3 years ago
Overview 
Kendra Diggs was shot and killed by James Walton Smith, her fiance and a Baltimore Police Officer.
Court documents reveal the responding officers kicked in the front door after they heard a woman yell “Help me, help me.”
Inside, Kendra Diggs was already bleeding from a small wound to her face.
According to court documents, one of the responding officers walked Diggs a few feet away to the front of the home to talk to her about what happened. They say that’s when Smith fired at her from the second floor window.
Shattered glass remains in that window where the shots were fired. Diggs collapsed to the ground with a bullet in her head. The responding officers ran for cover and called for help. Soon, SWAT teams converged on the area and evacuated neighbors as Smith locked himself inside the house, along with his four-year-old son.
It was hours before negotiators secured the four-year-old’s release and later secured Smith’s surrender.
“We just gave it time. We gave it time. We had our psychologist speaking with him and trying to calm him down and trying to calm down the scene,” said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts.
After Smith’s arrest, he apparently spoke to investigators and apologized for his actions.
Legal Action
June 2017 Jury awards $850,000
Community and Family Efforts
August 2016 Report on Baltimore Police Department
Additional Resources:
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-wrongful-death-verdict-20170623-story.html added June 24, 2017 09:15
- https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3009376/BPD-Findings-Report-FINAL.pdf added August 10, 2016 14:23
- https://www.facebook.com/KilledByPolice/posts/1237254122969389 added April 09, 2016 02:34
- https://killed-by-police.silk.co/page/Kendra-Diggs added March 13, 2016 07:17
- http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-08-05/news/bs-md-ci-police-suicide-20130805_1_apparent-suicide-west-baltimore-baltimore-police-officer added March 13, 2016 07:15
- http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-05-08/news/bs-md-officer-charged-20130508_1_james-smith-west-baltimore-officers added March 13, 2016 07:15
- http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/05/08/baltimore-cop-in-custody-accused-of-fatally-shooting-woman-holding-toddler-hostage/ added March 13, 2016 07:11