Community members, family rally in East LA demanding justice for man with autism shot by deputies

EAST LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Family and community members gathered in East Los Angeles over the weekend to call for justice for a man with autism who was shot and wounded by an L.A. County Sheriff's deputy at his home in Cudahy.

Earlier this month, the mother of Isaias Cervantes called authorities for help with him, but he instead ended up in the hospital in critical condition.

The group on Sunday rallied at Florence Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard outside the sheriff's station to demand prosecution for the deputies involved. Attorneys for the family of the 25-year-old say deputies knew he has autism, is hard of hearing and suffers from mental health issues.

A mother is demanding justice after her 25-year-old son with autism was shot by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies.

Speakers at the rally cited the vulnerability of disabled people, especially those of color.

In body camera footage of the incident released last week, a deputy can be heard screaming that Cervantes was grabbing for his gun. That's when another deputy opened fire and shot him.

"In this case, it was 16 seconds from the time those deputies put hands on Isaias, who has OCD -- they were told that -- who has other challenges that were conveyed to the police, to those deputies," said Cervantes' lawyer Austin Dove. "And it still took only 16 seconds to put a shot in his back that ripped through his spine."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department released body camera footage of the moment a 25-year-old man with autism was shot at his home in Cudahy by a deputy.

The sheriff's department says Cervantes punched one of the deputies and tried to gauge his eyes, injuring him. The deputies involved have not been identified.

Cervantes remains in the hospital and his lawyer says he may never walk again.