Four months after her fiancé, Jonathan Ferrell, was fatally shot, Cache Heidel hopes his death won't be in vain.
During a recent interview with CNN, Heidel opened up about her relationship and how she hopes to move past her loss. She shared her memories of Ferrell as a gentle, sweet person that took joy in entertaining the people around him.
"He always liked to joke, to goof around, make other people smile," she said. "He was always a joy to be around, he cared so much for other people more so than himself."
She later went on to discuss her hope that Ferrell's shooting death would spark a much needed conversation across the country, particularly after a year marred by the deaths of a number of young black men in controversial cases.
"That is a hope I have, that his death will resound for a country that prides itself on being diverse and inclusive and accepting everyone for who they are," she said.
Ferrell, a former football player at Florida A&M University, was shot 10 times in September by North Carolina police officer Randall Kerrick, leaving his parents and the local NAACP chapter questioning whether race played a role in the shooting.
Attorneys for Ferrell's family filed a wrongful death suit on Tuesday against several parties involved in the 24-year-old's death.
The family says autopsy and video evidence prove that Ferrell was not posing a threat to the officer, and was likely on his knees or already on the ground at the time a number of the shots were fired.
“This was a murderer who was acting while on duty. Taxpayers were paying him, and he murdered someone,” Christopher Chestnut, a lawyer for the family, told NBC News. “We all deserve answers. The department needs answers.”
Ferrell's mother, Georgia Ferrell, told CNN she didn't know if the move would help bring her closure, but she hoped it would lead to changes in the police department.
"I hope and pray that (in) doing this ... that they get the proper training,"