Darrick Maurice Collins, 36

Darrick Collins, a 36-year-old black man, was shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy Monday, Sept. 14, at in West Athens, according to authorities.

The deputy had chased Collins up his driveway and into his own backyard, believing he was a robbery suspect. The deputy saw Collins reach for his waistband, causing him to fear that Collins was going for a weapon, sheriff's officials said. The deputy fired at Collins through a wooden gate, fatally hitting him in the back of the neck.

At a news conference 17 days after his killing. Collins' mother, Bernastein Huckaby stood a few feet from where he son was shot and told reporters: "I just want justice for him. They took my son's life."

The family called the news conference to discuss a claim they filed against the county, a required precursor to a civil lawsuit.

Attorney Randy McMurray, who represents family, said Collins was one of four unarmed men shot by sheriff's deputies in a small part of southeast L.A. County in recent years. Three of those shootings were fatal.

In the wake of community outrage over Collins' death, Sheriff Lee Baca announced that he planned to examine the way deputies deal with fleeing suspects. He has convened a panel of shooting experts to look into deputy-involved shootings and department tactics. Additionally, he ordered that all investigations into the shootings of unarmed people be completed in 90 days instead of the usual year or more.

"Saying they're going to do it is not enough for this family," said Brian Dunn, another attorney for the family. "The family wants to make sure this type of thing does not happen to another family, to another daughter, to another son, to another community."

Baca has declined a request from The Times to identify the deputy involved.

So far this year, deputies have fatally shot 13 people compared with five from the same period last year, sheriff's officials said. Four of those killed in 2009 were unarmed, said spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Collins, a 36-year-old father of two, had been arrested two weeks before the shooting on suspicion of drug possession and had tablets made with Ecstasy and methamphetamine on him the night he died, officials said.

-- Richard Winton

Photo: Darrick Collins holds his son, Darrick Collins Jr., in a family photo.