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Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak after federal hearing
Virginia State Police troopers shot and killed Xzavier Hill after a 2021 high-speed chase.
A federal judge in Richmond heard arguments Wednesday in the case of the 18-year-old fatally shot by Virginia State Police troopers during a traffic stop in 2021.
Xzavier Hill’s mother Latoya Benton brought a civil rights lawsuit against officers Seth Layton and Benjamin Bone after a grand jury found the troopers were justified in using deadly force, declining to indict either of them.
Attorneys for Layton and Bone asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing Hill pointed a gun at them before they killed him. Benton's attorneys argued that while Hill had a gun in reach, it wasn't in his hands.
Photos by Scott Elmquist/VPM News
Xzavier Hill federal trial 2
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021. (Scott Elmquist / VPM News)
Xzavier Hill federal trial 4
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021. (Scott Elmquist / VPM News)
Xzavier Hill protest1
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021. (Scott Elmquist / VPM News)
Xzavier Hill federal trial 3
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021. (Scott Elmquist / VPM News)
Xzavier Hill federal trial 5
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021. (Scott Elmquist / VPM News)
Xzavier Hill federal trial
Friends and family of Xzavier Hill speak outside the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond on Wednesday. A judge heard arguments in a civil rights case brought by Hill's mother, Latoya Benton, against the Virginia State Police officers who killed him after a high-speed chase in 2021.
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