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A grand jury decided not to file charges against eight Akron, Ohio, police officers for the death of Jayland Walker, according to CNN.
The 25-year-old was shot over 40 times by police after a car chase on June 27, 2022.
Reports initially stated Jayland was unarmed when he was killed. However, officers said he fired a gun from his vehicle during the chase. Additionally, a firearm was reportedly found in his car after the shooting, per police.
According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the grand jury concluded the officers were legally justified in their use of force.
“He reached for his waistband in what several officers described as a cross-draw motion, planted his foot and turned toward the officers while raising his hand,” Yost said. “Only then did the officers fire, believing Mr. Walker was firing again at them.”
“The law allows officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or others against a deadly threat,” he added.
The decision not to indict the officers comes after police released a narrated video timeline a week after the shooting. The video included parts of body camera footage from 13 officers at the scene. As well as still images taken from traffic cameras.
Eight police officers fired a total of 94 shots at Walker within just 6.7 seconds, according to the investigation. Additionally, three of the officers fired a total of 18 times each.
Walker suffered 46 gunshot entrance wounds or graze injuries, according to an autopsy performed by Summit County Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler.
Additionally, he was handcuffed after the shooting, a move that “added insult to a terrible loss,” a family attorney named Bobby DiCello told CNN.
DiCello explained that he was disappointed in the grand jury’s decision on Monday. He added that the family would file a civil suit.
“We’re going to be filing it before the one-year anniversary of his death,” he said.
Walker, who had no criminal record, worked as a DoorDash and Uber Eats delivery driver.
Walker’s death prompted an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. It also sparked widespread protests over racial injustice and police use of force, Akron police stated.
The bureau’s investigation was then referred to a special prosecutor, who unsuccessfully presented the case to a grand jury over the past week. Ohio law allows officers themselves to testify before the grand jury, an arrangement that DiCello says “favors the officers.”
According to the investigation, a firearm, bullet casing, and a gold wedding ring were found in Walker’s vehicle on the night of his death.
A month earlier, his fiancée, Jaymeisha Beasley, died in a car crash, according to an Akron Beacon Journal report released Monday by the state attorney general’s office.
