The City of Homewood is asking for the petition filed by Jabari Peoples’ family seeking release of video in his June 23 shooting death to be dismissed.

Attorneys for the city on Friday filed a response in Jefferson County Court to the petition last week by attorney Leroy Maxwell on behalf of Peoples’ mother, Vivian Sterling, and other family members of the slain 18-year-old.

The petition seeks to preserve critical evidence and identify parties as the family considers a potential wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit.

It also asks the court to compel Homewood to disclose body-cam footage, incident reports, use-of-force documentation and the names of all officers involved.

“We don’t know what’s on the video, good or bad, but it needs to be seen,” Maxwell has said. “The family deserves the truth. And the community deserves accountability.”

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump earlier this week joined the family’s legal team.

Homewood’s response, filed Friday afternoon, cited several reasons why the petition should be denied.

First, according to court documents, the petition was brought to obtain information allowed only in discovery after a lawsuit has been brought.

Peoples’ family has not filed a lawsuit.

“Everything Ms. Peoples (Sterling) seeks may one day be available in discovery after the action is brought,” the response states.

The evidence will already be preserved because Homewood, or any agency, has a legal duty to preserve all evidence in any case, the city’s filing states.

The response also states the documents sought by the family are protected from disclosure by statute and common-law privilege protecting law enforcement investigations.

Also, the filing states, the requested documents are already in the hands of ALEA, which is leading the probe.

The response also states that Vivian Peoples’ did not include ALEA – the custodial agency – in the petition.

A hearing is set for Aug. 4 before Jefferson County Presiding Judge Elisabeth French.

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Peoples was a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School where he was standout track athlete and football player.

Peoples had just finished his freshman year at Alabama A & M where he was studying computer information and criminal justice with hopes of becoming a law enforcement officer, specifically a detective.

He was shot to death that Monday night in Homewood Soccer Park.

Homewood police say a veteran officer, who has not been publicly identified, approached the vehicle to investigate because of a recent increase in criminal activity in and around the city’s athletic complexes.

The officer, police say, smelled marijuana and ordered Peoples and his female friend out of the vehicle.

Police say the encounter ended with Peoples resisting, breaking away from the officer as he tried to handcuff him, and grabbing a gun from the driver’s side door pocket.

The officer shot Peoples, who was pronounced dead a short time later at UAB Hospital.

Peoples’ family and attorney Maxwell disagreed with that narrative, saying that Peoples wasn’t armed and didn’t resist.

The Homewood Police Department turned the investigation over to ALEA, which is standard policy for many officer-involved shootings.

ALEA denied the family’s request to see the footage, saying release of the video footage would jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

Though Alabama state provides a way for families to view body camera and dash cam videos, the same law also allows law enforcement to withhold the footage for investigative purposes.

There have been several protests following the fatal shooting, including at the Homewood Police Department, ALEA’s office in west Homewood, Homewood City Hall and during the World Police and Fire Games in the Birmingham area.

Peoples’ funeral is set for Saturday at Aliceville City Hall.