TO MAN KILLED IN RAID

Family Disputes Florida Police Allegation He Was Drug Dealer

THE BODY of a Toronto father of four killed in a botched drug sting by
Florida police was flown to his native Jamaica for burial yesterday.

Donovan "Rasta" Brooks, 40, a cook, was shot Aug. 5 by Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) agents during an arrest in the parking lot of a West
Palm Beach motel, police said.

"He was a very good man and an excellent father," said former wife
Antoinette "Princess" White of Brampton. "He is clean and didn't have a
criminal record."

White and other family members insisted Brooks was a family man who didn't
do drugs. He moved to Toronto from Jamaica in 1993 and began dividing his
time between here and the New York area.

"If a man does a crime, he should pay for it by going to jail," White said
yesterday. "He shouldn't be killed. It is not right."

White has contacted the law firm founded by the late trial lawyer Johnnie
Cochran Jr. to assist her in a complaint.

A DEA affidavit said Brooks was at the Days Inn to buy $100,000 of
marijuana from Michael Ray Roberts, 55, of Myrtle Beach, who was
collaborating with police after he was charged with smuggling in 200 kilos
of pot from Jamaica in a sailboat.

The affidavit said the men did another drug deal last June, when Brooks
pulled out a heat-sealed package of $100 U.S. bills from his pants to pay
for 35 kilos of weed.

News reports said the men were ordered to the ground by undercover officers
as they approached for the drug buy. It is unclear what happened but in the
end Brooks was killed.

Paul Miller, of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, said yesterday that
his force is probing the shooting.

"The officer felt his life was in jeopardy and took action," Miller said.
The officer has been placed on paid leave.