Crédito: fuente
A grand jury can be called by a prosecutor to help review evidence and decide whether to bring an indictment. They’re often used in complex or controversial cases.
Wochit
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer who fatally shot 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed won’t face criminal charges, a grand jury has decided.
IMPD officer Dejoure Mercer shot Reed during a foot pursuit near West 62nd Street and Michigan Road on May 6. The shooting sparked protests and demands from some that Mercer face consequences.
Special Prosecutor Rosemary Khoury, who was appointed to oversee the criminal investigation, announced in August that a grand jury would determine whether Mercer should be indicted. The jury’s decision was announced Tuesday evening at the Indiana State Police Museum.
Khoury said the grand jury determined that there wasn’t enough probable cause to charge the officer.
«This has not been an easy task and it’s been a very heavy burden,» Khoury said.
Khoury later said through tears that she is the mother of two Black boys.
“I am also very empathetic toward Officer Mercer. I know that had to be a difficult position to be in,” she said. «No one wins.”
Khoury stressed that Indiana law prohibited her from discussing what evidence was presented to the grand jury. That said, a separate but coordinated news conference was held shortly after Khoury’s announcement during which Indiana State Police investigators laid out, in detail, what they say happened during the final 16 minutes of Reed’s life.
The ISP investigation concluded that Reed was armed, that he fired two shots after he had been tased by Mercer and that he was then shot multiple times by Mercer, including while they were facing each other.
The ISP also said evidence in Reed’s phone indicated his involvement in two previous drive-by shootings — no one was injured — and that cartridges collected by IMPD in those shootings matched the gun that was in Reed’s possession when he was shot.
But social media reaction to the decision was swift and bitter, with several tweeting that the outcome further emphasizes the need for widespread reform within the criminal justice system.
Dreasjon Reed decision: Downtown Indianapolis braces for protests
The grand jury process
Indiana grand juries are made up of six jurors who are called to serve through a summons, just as a normal juror would be for a trial. Prosecutors are able to present evidence without jurors having to hear from the defense, which means the outcome can depend on what is presented and what a prosecutor wants a jury to see.
Evidence does not have to be made public with a grand jury, which means witnesses can come forward to give statements without being named and the prosecutor can prevent evidence from being known publicly.
That means information about Reed’s death that was shared with the grand jury may never come to light. Khoury declined to answer several questions about evidence presented to the grand jury.
Buy Photo
Special Prosecutor Rosemeary Khoury shows emotion as she announces that a grand jury has decided that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer who fatally shot 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed wonÕt face criminal charges at Indiana State Police Museum in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. (Photo: Colin Boyle/IndyStar)
Khoury did say she believes grand juries are the «best and final indicator» of an investigation.
‘»I have to believe that justice was done because I trust our system, our judicial system.»
The shooting
Part of the shooting was captured on Reed’s Facebook Live, which he began recording while he was driving and before the foot pursuit.
According to IMPD, the vehicle pursuit started on I-65 near 30th Street around 6 p.m. when IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams saw Reed driving recklessly. Police said Reed’s car almost struck other vehicles while it exited the interstate.
Adams initiated a pursuit and IMPD Chief Randal Taylor, who was in a different car, aided. Once other officers joined the pursuit, Adams and Taylor stopped pursuing Reed.
But by 6:10 p.m. an IMPD sergeant ordered officers to stop due to how fast Reed was driving. Police said Mercer then saw Reed driving eastbound on 62nd Street before parking at a business. Both Mercer and Reed left their cars, and a foot pursuit began.
‘My heart hurts’: Dreasjon Reed autopsy released to family
Police said there was a confrontation between the two near the intersection of West 62nd Street and Michigan Road that involved an exchange of gunfire, and Mercer called in the shooting at 6:16 p.m. Police said Mercer used his service weapon after a Taser deployment was «ineffective.»
The officer cannot be seen in the Facebook Live video.
Fifteen casings were recovered at the scene. Police said a weapon found at the scene belonged to Reed, and that Reed fired a weapon at Mercer. The family and their attorneys have denied that claim.
Buy Photo
Messages and candles are seen on the walkways around the Dreasjon memorial, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, near 62nd Street and Michigan Road. Reed was fatally shot by police near this site on May 6, 2020, after a police chase captured on Facebook Live. IMPD claims Reed was driving recklessly so they pursued him. Near this intersection, Reed fled on foot. Police say Reed exchanged gunfire with them, but Reed’s family denies that. A grand jury decision in the Dreasjon Reed case should be announced this week. (Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)
The lawsuit claims the department failed to properly train, supervise and discipline Mercer and others involved in the string of events that led to Reed’s death.
The ISP investigation
The Indiana State Police investigated the shooting separate from the grand jury and IMPD. Superintendent Doug Carter pleaded for people to «understand that our role is the objective finder of fact.»
«We didn’t pick a side,» he said. «And we will never pick a side.»
ISP Lt. Jeffrey Hearon recounted the events leading up to Reed’s death, showing surveillance video from a nearby library and business. Zoomed-in images from the videos show portions of the foot pursuit, though the images are pixilated.
Buy Photo
Lt. Jeff Hearon provides evidence and answers questions after a special grand jury decided not to indict the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer who fatally shot 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed wonÕt face criminal charges in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. (Photo: Colin Boyle/IndyStar)
Police say Reed fell face down after Mercer tased him. They believe Reed then rolled over onto his buttocks while drawing a gun. Ballistics showed two casings from Reed’s gun were found at the scene. Another 13 casings found at the scene were determined to be from Mercer’s weapon.
Police removed Reed’s gun from his hand soon after the shooting, something Hearon said is protocol so that emergency medical technicians can safely respond.
As to the sequence of who shot when, Hearon said, «I don’t think we can definitively (say).»
“We can say Mr. Reed fired two shots.”
Further investigation showed Reed had stolen the gun from a pawn shop in Texas, Hearon said. That was the same gun believed to be used in the two non-injury drive-by shootings in Indianapolis prior to Reed’s death.
Reaction to grand jury decision
In a statement, IMPD thanked residents for awaiting the conclusion of the lengthy investigation.
“We understand that this result may be frustrating for some of our residents, but it is our hope that the full transparency offered by Prosecutor Khoury and Superintendent Carter will help to move our city forward, improve the relationship between our officers and neighborhoods, and bring us closer to healing the division in our community,” the statement said. “We look forward to continuing a productive dialogue with our residents and building the types of partnerships with our neighborhoods that prevent violence.”
The department thanked the citizens on the grand jury for ensuring “a fair and just investigative process and a transparent outcome.”
Indy10 Black Lives Matter encouraged people to gather downtown at New York and Meridian Streets. The group led or attended numerous protests in Indianapolis following Reed’s death.
«We will be hosting space for grieving community members tonight at New York & Meridian. Meet us ASAP!,» the group said in a tweet.
Downtown businesses started boarding up their properties Monday after learning a grand jury decision could come this week.
In a statement, the African American Coalition of Indianapolis acknowledged the impact that the event has had on the Black community and Reed’s family.
“We like to believe that justice is clear, recognizable and a product of a collective consensus. Justice should be obvious,” the coalition said. “However, too often when it has come to the death of Black males in police action shootings there has not been a clear, recognizable, and collective community consensus on whether justice has been achieved.”
The group has been active in a number of policy measures, including working with the city on a use-of-force review board that IMPD finalized last month.
Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement that Reed’s death has raised understandable questions produced by centuries of racism and mistrust.
“This decision ends the criminal review of the interaction but it doesn’t heal the divides in our community cause by a heartbreaking incident such as this,” the statement said.
Hogsett thanked the faith and community leaders and applauded recent changes to the department, including changes to the use of force policy, a new use-of-force review board that has more civilians than officers and a new General Orders Board — also consisting of a majority of citizens — that ultimately determines department policy.
“These reforms are meaningful steps forward as we continue to build new trust between Indianapolis neighborhoods and our police department,” he said in the statement.
Demands and actions
On May 25, just weeks after Reed’s death, Minneapolis police choked and killed George Floyd. The incident was caught on video and led to nationwide protests. In Indianapolis, protesters demanded transparency in Reed’s death and called for police reforms.
In July, IMPD announced new use-of-force policies that prohibit the use of chokeholds, require de-escalation tactics and create a standard for deadly use of force based on a California model.
The new policies also outline more rules regarding less lethal use of force, such as chemical spray and electronic devices, such as Tasers.
Dreasjon «Sean» Reed, 21, was the man who was fatally shot by Indianapolis police on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (Photo: Provided by the family)
The change is among a medley of efforts to reform policing in the community — including ending the use of no-knock warrants, a new board to review every use-of-force incident and a proposal to change the makeup of the General Orders Committee, which sets department policy.
IMPD also began rolling out body cameras in August, something community members and city officials have long called for.
IndyStar reporter Amelia Pak-Harvey and Pulliam Fellow Lydia Gerike contributed to this story.
Contact IndyStar reporter Elizabeth DePompei at 317-444-6196 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @edepompei.
Read or Share this story: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2020/11/10/indianapolis-police-shooting-dreasjon-reed-grand-jury-verdict/5885006002/
