"He Wasn't Just a Dad He Was a Best Friend" -- Son of NC Man Killed for Asserting His Rights

By Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Nov. 19, 2015

Spring Lake, NC -- John David Livingston, 33, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Sunday as police were conducting an assault investigation. Police were not looking for Livingston, and the entire situation could have been avoided had they come back with a warrant like Livingston requested.

On Tuesday, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office released the name of the deputy involved the killing of Livingston. Harnett County Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Kehagias was the trigger man, according to Maj. Jeff Huber. Kehagias has been employed as a deputy sheriff since July 2013 and is currently assigned to the patrol division.

Livingston's roommate, Clayton Carroll told WNCN that he was shot multiple times during the altercation with officers who had no right to be there in the first place.

According to Carroll, deputies began knocking on the door around 3:30 am as they were looking for someone who no longer lived in the home. When Deputies asked Livingston if they could search his home, Livingston said "not without a search warrant," according to Carroll.

Livingston then shut the door.

Having a man assert his fourth amendment right to be secure in his property was apparently too much for the deputy to handle.

"The cop kicked in the door, got on top of him, started slinging him around beat him..." Carroll said.

Witnesses explain how deputies began spraying pepper spray and deploying a taser during the assault. They say that Livingston was not fighting back and merely trying to prevent the deputies from inflicting more harm on him.

During the struggle, Livingston attempted to remove the taser from the deputy's hand which caused the officers to fear for their lives.

"He (Livingston) barely had the Taser in his hand, but he had it where it was constantly going off and the officer I guess that spoke to him rolled over there, says he got the Taser and shot him in this position," Carroll said.

Livingston died from the multiple gunshot wounds, and three young children are now fatherless.

Affidavits on Tuesday confirmed that deputies never had a search warrant when they first visited Livingston's home early Sunday. However, shortly after breaking into the man's home and killing him, police did obtain a warrant and that warranted was executed.

Had this warrant been obtained prior to police showing up at Livingston's residence, the father of three would still be alive.

According to his friends and family, Livingston was a kind man and an incredible carpenter. They explained how Livingston built the wooden porch a month before so everyone could have fun on it. They never predicted that it would be the place of his death.

In a heart-wrenching interview with WNCN on Tuesday, John Livingston III, spoke out about his father's tragic death.

The "last thing he told me he'd be coming back, he was leaving my house going over there and said he'd be back," said the victim's son.

"He wasn't just a dad he was a best friend, we always talked about everything," he said.