Officer Detail: Seth Walker Layton
General Information
| Name | Seth Walker Layton |
| OpenOversight ID | 4879 |
| Unique Internal Identifier | layton-seth-walker |
| Department | Virginia State Police |
| Race | White |
| Gender | Male |
| Birth Year (Age) | 1996 (27) |
| First Employment Date | 2020-09-23 |
Assignment History
| Department | Job Title | Badge No. | Unit | Start Date | End Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia State Police | Trooper Il | Division I Area 8 (Richmond/Hanover/Henrico) | 2020-09-28 | |||
| Virginia State Police | Trooper | Division I — Henrico County/Richmond | 2020-09-28 | |||
| Virginia State Police | Officer | 4108 | Richmond Police Department | 2017-06-05 | 2020-09-20 |
Incidents
Incident IAD-2020-0038 |
|
| Date | May 31, 2020 |
| Time | 9:12 PM |
| Report # | IAD-2020-0038 |
| Department | Richmond Police Department |
| Officers | Cleophas Williams, Seth Walker Layton |
| Description |
In the summer of 2020, Layton, along with Officers Nicholas Caesar and Cleophas Williams, was named in an Internal Affairs complaint (I.A.D. 2020-0038) alleging abuse of chemical weapons and the use of excessive force on two individuals, one a journalist, during a police attack on a protest in early June. |
| Address |
1000 block East Marshall Street
Richmond, VA |
Incident Gas-Attack-Police-Riot-0612020 |
|
| Date | Jun 01, 2020 |
| Time | 6:00 PM |
| Report # | Gas-Attack-Police-Riot-0612020 |
| Department | Richmond Police Department |
| Officers | Christopher Gleason, Michael Verbena, Matthew Mchugh, Matthew Pollack, Oscar Reyes, Richard Redford, Robert Jamison, Robert Taylor, Russell Pearce, Ryan Novak, Ryan Legros, Seth Walker Layton, Stephen Pishock, Sean David Arthur Alston, Steven Durham, Timothy Ryan Burgess, Trishonda Chasteen, Benito Frias, Wayne Hartley, William Travers, Kevin Knudsen, Samuel Yoon, Robert Misegades, John W. Barkley, Anthony Tyler Farnsworth, Anthony Catoggio, Albert Korngage, Akeem Jones, Benjamin Neifeld, Brady Mcwhirter, Brian Corrigan, Brian Robinson, Brian Rogers, Brian Prendergast, Brandy Thornton, Christopher J. Brown, Christopher Saunders, Cleophas Williams, Christian James, Cody George Adams, Christopher Snyder, David Marakovitz, Dave Conyers, Dominic Colombo, Douglas Gutierrez, Derajon Chavis, Dario Buraliev, David Edward Stone, Edward Costley, Ernest Ford, Fred E. Bates, Harry William Fitzpatrick, Jakob Torres, Jason Hudson, Jason Pittman, Jason Pritchard, Jason Smith, Jessica Spence, John Story, Jonathan Myers, Junius Thorpe, Justin Land, Jean Joel Assad, Jason Kuti, Jason Reese, Jean-Guy Legouffe, Levi Manns Iv, Mark Janowski, Marshall M. Young, Matthew Robinson, Michael Kiniry, Michael Musselwhite |
| Description |
Richmond Police officers attack a crowd of everyday citizens protesting the police killing of George Floyd with chemical weapons and physical violence. Two years later, a federal court ordered the Richmond Police Department to correct the record with an admission that it had lied about the circumstances of the attack (it did so with a tweet). While multiple lawsuits, complaints, and inquiries emerged from the terror of that day, no officer was fired as a result of their conduct on June 1, 2020. |
| Address |
1700 Monument Avenue
near N. Allen Avenue
Richmond, VA |
Incident Wandering-Officers-2023 |
|
| Date | Feb 25, 2023 |
| Report # | Wandering-Officers-2023 |
| Department | Decertified, Dismissed, & Wandering Ex-Police |
| Officers | Christopher Shane Simpkins, Michael Neal Santare, Jacob Stratton, Drake Judy, Edward Ryan, Joseph A. Wood, Matthew S. Riley, Robbie A. Oberholzer, Patrick Joseph Digirolamo, Tyler Ryan Timberlake, Rodney D. Whited Ii, Seth Walker Layton, Christopher R. Paroskie |
| Description |
This entry serves to consolidate records on officers who have gained new employment recently after resigning or being dismissed amid misconduct at a previous job. These officers quietly migrate to various departments after incidents of misconduct, or under otherwise suspicious circumstances. These officers have one or more significant incidents on record and are still employed as law enforcement officers today. |
| Address | Everywhere, VA |
Incident Benton-v-Layton |
|
| Date | Apr 14, 2022 |
| Report # | Benton-v-Layton |
| Department | Virginia State Police |
| Officers | Seth Walker Layton, Benjamin Ira Bone |
| Description | |
| Address | Richmond, VA |
Incident Xzavier-Deyonte-Hill |
|
| Date | Jan 09, 2021 |
| Time | 11:59 PM |
| Report # | Xzavier-Deyonte-Hill |
| Department | Virginia State Police |
| Officers | Seth Walker Layton, Benjamin Ira Bone |
| Description |
Seth Layton and Benjamin Bone of the Virginia State Police stopped 18-year-old Xzavier Hill while he was driving on I-64, then shot and killed him. |
| Address |
Interstate 64
Goochland County, VA |
Descriptions
-
Feb 13, 2023
Seth W. Layton is a Virginia State Police trooper and former officer of the Richmond Police Department. In the summer of 2020, Layton, along with Officers Nicholas Caesar and Cleophas Williams, was named in an Internal Affairs complaint (I.A.D. 2020-0038) alleging abuse of chemical weapons and the use of excessive force on two individuals, one a journalist, during a police attack on a protest in early June.
On September 22, 2020, Layton resigned from the Richmond Police Department of his own volition for unspecified reasons while the Internal Affairs investigation was still underway, according to investigators' notes in the RPD IA report.
Layton, whose father is Fredericksburg Chief of Police Brian Layton, went on to work for the Virginia State Police. He began the VSP Training Academy for former law enforcement officers on September 28, 2020, then graduated in a ceremony in November. He was then assigned to work as a trooper in the Richmond/Henrico County region.
Just over three months later (on January 9, 2021), Officer Layton and Officer Benjamin Bone shot and killed 18-year-old Xzavier Hill in his car on the roadside of Interstate 64. The killing, which resulted in a lawsuit, was a subject of intense scrutiny from the media and outrage from social justice advocates. Despite the public backlash, in 2021 the court ruled that Layton and Bone's murder of Hill was "justified". Layton continues to work for Virginia State Police.
openoversightva@riseup.net
Links
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"55 members of Virginia State Police 133rd Basic Session receive their diplomas"
WFXR-TV
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Allegations Against Seth Layton (I.A.D. 2020-0038): RPD Internal Affairs Division Report
Richmond Police Internal Affairs (OpenOversightVA on DocumentCloud)
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I.A.D. 2020-0038
Richmond Police Internal Affairs (OpenOversightVA on Box)
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"Document shows pepper spray violations by Richmond police during '20 protests"
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Patrick Wilson)
Other videos
Videos
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"Dashcam video of the officer-Involved shooting of Xzavier Deyonte Hill"
Content Warning: This video shows the death of Xzavier Hill. - Virginia State Police/Richmond Times-Dispatch (via Youtube) -
Seth Walker Layton Deposition, Part One
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Report: Virginia trooper involved in deadly shooting previously investigated as Richmond cop
WRIC ABC News