
Tony Ray Cox (family photo)
More than a year after his death, and with so many unanswered questions, Tammy Cox has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Oakland County Sheriff's deputies in Pontiac killed her 33-year-old son, shooting him in the back nine times after he tried to escape by foot following a traffic stop and brief car chase.
The wrongful death suit was filed last Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit on behalf of the estate of her son Tony Ray Cox, a Black man, 6-feet tall and 390 pounds who worked as an engineer in the automotive industry and lived in Sterling Heights. The suit alleges the department was inclined and predisposed to treat Cox different than a White person because he's Black.
Wants Answers
Tammy Cox wants answers, stating in the lawsuit that Oakland County has yet to provide her, the family or the public with an explanation, police video or other evidence that could shed light on the death.
Her Detroit attorney Joel Sklar says he's tried getting the department to release information about the investigation, including video and the status of the probe. He said the department has been less than forthcoming, so he's filed the suit so he can subpoeana evidence.
"If there was nothing to hide, nothing would be hidden," Sklar said in a statement to Deadline Detroit. "The county has an obligation of transparency to disclose the actual facts of the homicide and not cherry pick...If there was evidence that absolved the deputy sheriffs, I suspect it would have been released without prompting."
Sklar said to date the department has let him view some, but not all of the video from the incident. He said it also released publicly a photo of Cox stepping out of the vehicle after the brief car chase and taking a stance with his hands pointed at a deputies as if he may have had a gun. Sklar said he did not have a weapon.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Department on Monday sent a response to Deadline Detroit, saying:
"The incident was investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit (S.I.U.) and the Ingham County Sheriff's Office. Both entities found that the actions of the Deputy Sheriffs were objectively reasonable under the circumstances."
The deadly incident began, according to the suit, on Dec. 13, 2023 around 9 p.m. when an Oakland County Sheriff's deputy pulled Cox over in his silver, four-door sedan. Authorities said the car may have been involved in a "shots fired incident" about a week before at the Carriage Circle Apartments on North Arbor Street in Pontiac.
The suit alleges that no public record exists of such gun fire.
Hands on Steering Wheel
When the sheriff's deputy approached, Cox handed his driver's license and politiely asked why he'd been stopped, the lawsuit said. He also placed his hands on the steering wheel so the deputy could see them.
Seven more deputies arrived on the scene and swarmed the vehicle, and with flashlights, searched the interior of the car for weapons or contraband, the suit said, adding that they found nothing.
Cox became concerned and told a deputy he feared the police were going to kill him.
Despite the lack of any active resistance, the suit alleges, deputies drew their guns or produced their metal battons "all while shouting conflicting commands he could not possibly comply with without getting shot and killed.'
Then one depiuty shattered the rear car door window with his metal baton, the suit alleged.
Fearing for his life, the lawsuit said, Cox meaneuvered his car around the patrol cars and drove off. Deputies pursued and managed to perform a meaneuver to stop Cox's car.

Dashcam photo of Cox clasping hands and pointing at deputies
Cox got out of the car and clasped both hands with his arms outstretched in the direction of the deputies. He had no weapon. Still, at least one deputy opened fire, striking him multiple times, Sklar said.
The wounded Cox then began running away. He got about 30 to 50 feet when deputies "unloaded their weapons" and shot him nine times in the back. One shot pierced his aorta and killed him, the suit said.
No Weapon Found
As he lay dead on the ground in a pool of blood, one deputy ordered him to "get up" and kicked his lifeless body, the suit says. None of the deputies made any effort to revive or resusciatate him.
No weapons were found, and an examination by the medical examiner found no traces in the body of alcohol or illicit drugs.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office in its response to Deadline Detroit provided this account of the confrontation:
Deputies initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and approached the driver for questioning. The driver, a 33-year-old male, fled the scene at a high rate of speed while being questioned.
Deputies returned to their patrol vehicle and initiated a pursuit of the fleeing suspect and were able to perform a PIT Maneuver [Precision Immobilization Technique] on the sedan near the area of Westway and Benson St. When his vehicle came to rest, the suspect exited and turned abruptly towards the Deputies with a two-handed posture, at which time Deputies fired upon the suspect.
Responding deputies immediately began to render aid to the suspect and requested EMS to respond to the scene. EMS transported the 33-year-old male to McLaren Oakland Hospital where a physician pronounced him deceased from injuries sustained in the incident. Crime Lab Technician’s arrived to process the scene once it was secured.
The response did not address specific allegations in the lawsuit that Cox was shot in the back nine times.
An autopsy report said "there are nine gunshot wounds on the back ranging in size from 1/4 inch to 1 inch in diameter," and "the trajectory of the bullets is from back to front."
The report also stated there were gunshot wounds to both arms, which Sklar suggests were defensive wounds that Cox suffered when he first got out of the car, and before he tried running away. He was also shot in the thigh and hip, the autopsy report said.
The lawsuit insists the department has been less than transparent.
Instead of releasing information or evidence to shed light on the case, the lawsuit says, Oakland County has only released a still photo of Cox with his empty hands clapsed, extended toward the deputy sheriffs "to give the false impression he had a weapon (which he did not) and/or shot a weapon (which he had not) and was killed while facing the deputy sheriffs (he was shot in the back nine times about 30-50 feet away from the sedan)."
The suit, which asks for an unspecified amount in damages, contends that Cox acted in self-defense by fleeing, fearing he was going to be killed.
The suit alleges there was an unlawful stop, prolonged detention, unlawful seizure and unlawful use of lethal force in violation of Cox's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
(For full disclosure, Joel Sklar is an attorney for the author of this story).