JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday released body camera footage showing the Aug. 11 fatal officer-involved shooting of a 22-year-old woman in Arlington.
The family of the woman who died, Asia Bennett, represented by prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, had been calling for the body camera video to be released since the shooting, saying she did not deserve what happened to her.
Crump saw the video and called the shooting “horrific and unjustified” in a statement to News4JAX.
(JSO posted the video to its YouTube page. Viewer discretion is advised.)
It all started when deputies were called to a home on Westdale Drive near Pine Bluff Drive around 10:45 p.m. for a report of a battery with injuries. A man who told JSO that Bennett was his girlfriend called police and said that she battered him.
JSO said it arrived at the house and found the man with “minor physical injuries.” He told police that Bennett was “inside the house armed with a knife,” and while the officer was speaking with the victim, Bennett can be seen on the video exiting the home.
Officer Erin Gaitten, who was speaking with the victim, said she saw Bennett “holding multiple items in her hands, including a large butcher-style kitchen knife.”
After seeing Bennett, Gaitten pulled out her gun and pointed it at Bennett and yelled at her to drop all the items.
Bennett then told the officer: “He beat the s*** out of me!”
Gaitten commanded her again to drop the items, and the video shows her dropping some items but still holding what appears to be the knife and a phone.
Bennett then said, “Alright, I don’t give a f***!” and the officer commanded her again to drop the items.
“Let’s do it. Go ahead, kill me!” Bennett said while the officer continued to point her gun at Bennett.
“He just f****** did all of this s***!” Bennett said to the officer. “He beat the s*** out of me!”
The officer commanded her to put the knife down again two times while still being about 10 feet away from her, according to JSO, and Bennett said: “Kill me, go ahead.” Gaitten then fired one time, striking her. JSO said Bennett “advanced on the officer” before the officer fired.
The video shows Bennett fall to the ground, and Gaitten and Officer Starling, the second officer on scene, told her to put the knife down multiple times while she was crawling on the ground, while saying, “I want to die.”
Gaitten then shot her again.
JSO said that she was attempting to stand back up with the knife, and in the video she can be seen moving from the ground to on her knees and elbows.
The video shows Bennett putting the knife down momentarily before pointing at the man, saying, “He hit me!” Then she picked the knife back up while refusing commands to drop it while she was on the ground. The JSO officer can be heard saying to drop the knife so she could be medically treated.
Bennett was later taken to a nearby hospital where she died.
Crump argued that Bennett was “nowhere near those officers” when she was shot.
“She was 22 years old, 110 pounds, a domestic violence victim standing outside her home, and there was no reason to shoot her. Not once, and certainly not twice. That officer had distance. She had time. She had every option a trained law enforcement officer is supposed to reach for before the gun, and she reached for the gun anyway. Asia should be alive today, and her family deserves justice for losing her too soon,” Crump said in a statement to News4JAX.
Bennett’s mother, Crissy Duncan, told News4JAX that her daughter was a domestic violence victim and was not violent or dangerous. Duncan said she believes JSO should have been helping her daughter.
“She is so tiny…she’s the sweetest. You would never hear nothing from Asia,” Duncan said.
Crump did say he is planning to hold a news conference at 12 p.m. on Thursday in Jacksonville to further address what is seen in the video.
JSO had said it releases all officer-involved-shootings within 21 days of the incident. The video was released 15 days after the shooting.
News4JAX asked JSO for a response to Crump’s statement and it said this:
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has shared as much information as possible given the ongoing investigation. Given anticipated litigation, the agency will provide no further comment,” JSO said in a statement sent to News4JAX.
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.