In April, Lily Cocreham walked into the Phoenix property storage building on a grim errand more than two years in the making.
She picked up her sons' blood-soaked clothes and belongings, evidence from the night both brothers were fatally shot by Phoenix police officers in October 2020.
"I've finally come to pick up items that were taken from my house," Cocreham told ABC15 Investigator Melissa Blasius.
Days later, the biohazard bags remained in a box on Cocreham's back porch. She broke down in tears explaining the overwhelming emotion of revisiting that night.
"I'm trying to be strong," Cocreham said. "But it hurts. It hurts."
Phoenix City Council approved a $1-million lawsuit settlement on Monday for Cocreham, without admitting any fault in the shooting.
Police shot unarmed brother first
After a 911 call in October 2020, Cocreham met police in her front yard, saying her sons Emmett and George had threatened her. Things escalated when one brother inside the home displayed a gun.
Backup officers surrounded the property, and a police helicopter circled above the home.
Minutes later, police body-cam video showed Emmett, 44, standing on the back porch. George, 43, opened the door, and according to police, he raised a rifle in the direction of his brother and officers. The officers later said George's actions made them afraid for their safety and that of Emmett.
Gunfire then erupted.
"They were brothers; they would stick to each other," said Cocreham.
Cocreham is initially told both police and George fired weapons. The police report said a spent casing was found in the barrel of the gun, but no projectile was ever located.
Emmett was hit twice in the head. Police admit weeks later in reports and court records that one officer, aiming for George, actually shot Emmett who was in the line of fire. Emmett was unarmed. He died on the scene.
George was also hit. Video shows he ducks back into the house, then crawls back out. Reports show he bled out for more than 30 minutes before receiving any medical aid. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The next day Cocreham was allowed to return to her house. A bullet had punctured a water pipe, flooding her house. Her electricity was off and the walls were ripped out.
Cocreham described there was also a "bloody mess" and "human remains" from her dead sons.
"I had to do the cleaning on this myself," she said. "I felt so violated and betrayed."
Cocreham later filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming officers were unjust in their shooting and failed to provide timely medical care afterward. The lengthy litigation furthered the emotional strain.
"They'll try to bring you down as much as you can," said Cocreham. "But you know what? You didn't win this time because I didn't lose my voice."
The $1-million settlement from the city will help Cocreham finally fix the damage to her house, but it doesn't fix the hole in her heart from losing her only two children.
"I'm going to keep talking and dealing with this until the day I die," she said. "It'll never go away, but I can deal with it the best that I can."
The two police officers who fired their weapons were not criminally charged. At last check, a Phoenix Police Department spokesman said the internal affairs investigation had not been finalized.
