CLEVELAND — Over a year after Andre Martin was shot and killed by two Medina Co. sheriff's deputies outside a Staples on Cleveland's West Side during a drug sting, his daughter, Audrey Martin, is demanding answers about his death.
In a letter sent to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Martin's attorney accuses the city of "deliberately" concealing information about the shooting, including the identities of the deputies.
The letter also accuses the city of trying to "run out the clock" on possible civil rights and wrongful death claims. Those claims need to be filed within two years of the incident, which occurred on April 16, 2025.
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"There's a duty to provide this information to people and Cleveland police are failing miserably at that under Mayor Bibb," Keith Hansbrough, Martin's attorney, said.
The letter describes how the city failed to respond to four separate public records requests for information about Andre Martin's death.
"Cleveland is holding back the names of the two officers and the report as to the shooting of Andre Martin, claiming that they were victims," Hansbrough said. "But what about Andre Martin? He was certainly a victim. He was lying dead on the parking lot."
Last fall, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Marsy's Law — which was created to protect the identities of crime victims — includes law enforcement officers.
"Police are hiding behind this when it's a perversion of what the voters meant to do when they passed Marsy's law," Hansbrough said.
Andy Gasiewski, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, supports the court's ruling.
"The men and women sign up to do a job, but they don't come to work to be violated," he said.
Gasiewski does not believe the ruling will allow officers to evade accountability in cases where there is excessive force or a mistake is made.
"I don't think society will allow officers just to say, 'Hey, I'm a victim' and right away hide under that," Gasiewski said.
Beyond the identities of the shooters, Hansbrough said Martin still has several questions about how her father's life ended.
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The deputies said Martin was armed with a knife and approached them at the time of the incident.
"It's hard to believe this guy [Martin] would have dropped his package, take out a little pocket knife that a kid carries, started at them for a few seconds and then said, you know what I'm going to do is run directly into the firearms. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No," Hansbrough said.
RELATED: Mother of man killed by Medina County deputies alleges he was shot 15 times
News 5 Investigators reached out to the City of Cleveland about Martin's letter. We have yet to receive a response.
You can read the full letter below:
