Andrew Joseph III’s family stands with a painting of their late loved one. Credit: Yvonne Gougelet

For eight years, the family of Andrew Joseph III has sought accountability for his death, and will now finally see a trial.

In 2014, Andrew was struck and killed by a vehicle on I-4 after being removed against his will from the Florida State Fairgrounds by deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff Office (HCSO). He was just 14-years-old when he died after he attempted to cross the interstate, while trying to make his way home.

For the past six years, the Joseph family has pursued a federal wrongful death case against HCSO and the Florida State Fair Authority. The family claims that the sheriff department violated Andrew’s civil rights by removing him from the fairgrounds, which led to his death.

The family told Creative Loafing Tampa bay that their case against the county is finally scheduled to head to trial at Sam Gibbons United States Federal Court in Downtown Tampa on Sept. 12.

Deanna Joseph, Andrew’s mother, said that the trial is long awaited good news.

“The trial is about accountability, because justice would mean Andrew would still be alive,” Deanna told CL. “So we’re one step closer to accountability.”

The 2014 incident occurred during Fair Day, an official day off that Hillsborough schools give to students in order to encourage attendance at the state fair. That day, HCSO claimed that some kids got out of control and started fighting, so deputies removed several students from the property. Andrew’s family says that he was not involved with the kids who were causing trouble.

Although Andrew had not been charged with a crime, his family says that he was detained, searched, and photographed by the HCSO. He was removed by HCSO officers, and no one from the fairgrounds, nor the sheriff’s office made attempts to contact his parents, the family says. Tragically, he was struck by a vehicle and killed while trying to cross the interstate.

“What the sheriff’s office has done is to victim blame Andrew,” Deanna said. “It was just really appalling to me that the department saw it necessary to blame Andrew for his death when he was a child, while they were the adults in the situation.”

In response to a CL story about Andrew’s death last year, HCSO said that his clothing was a factor in his death.

“It was determined by detectives who investigated the crash that the cause was not due to driver impairment, but rather, Joseph running across a highway in the dark, not wearing reflective clothing, in an area that was not designated as a crosswalk,” HCSO wrote in an email to CL.

The sheriff’s office also claimed that Andrew was not targeted or searched during his removal from the fairgrounds.

“Andrew Joseph was one of several teenagers expelled from the Florida State Fair. He was not targeted, searched, or harassed during that process, simply told to leave the fairgrounds,” HCSO added.

CL reached out to HCSO for comment about the upcoming trial, but no response has been sent yet. But the department has publicly claimed rules were changed following Andrew’s death and that HCSO is now required to contact parents if a minor is ejected from the fair.

The family says the road to the trial has been arduous and so has getting any documents out of HCSO. This is mainly because the department has tried to use a law that protects officers from civil suits to stop the case from heading to trial and information from being released.

HCSO has filed several appeals over the last eight years in an attempt to use qualified immunity, which shields cops from civil lawsuits, as a defense against the case. ABC News reported that on Oct. 12, 2021, a panel of federal judges rejected HCSO’s appeal, which means that the sheriff could not use qualified immunity to shield all the officers involved in the Joseph case.

Deanna told CL that at least one HCSO officer is expected to be subpoenaed during the trial—Corporal Mark Clark, who was involved in Andrew’s removal from the fair.

“I want the redemption of Andrew’s name during this trial, but I also want a solid sense of what qualified immunity means to our community and how important it is that we end qualified immunity,” she said.

Since Andrew’s death, the Joseph family has created a nonprofit foundation in his name and helps others in need.

Several groups are expected to rally around the trial, Deanna says, including: Restorative Justice Coalition (RJC), Dream Defenders, Black Lives Matter and NAACP chapters, among others.

RJC sent out a press release today and told CL that the group hopes the community will show up in support of the family as the group helps organize peaceful demonstrations outside the courthouse during the trial.

“We are grateful to have a continued partnership for the long haul mission of justice and accountability,” RJC told CL. “In honor of Andrew Joseph III, we hope the community will stand strong in support and say, ‘not one more child will be lost to this negligent behavior.’”