Jury rejects lawsuit filed by family of teen killed by cop | News, Sports, Jobs

FILE – Demonstrator Ciara Humphrey, proper, holds an indication throughout a rally for Tyre King, a 13-year-old Ohio boy who was fatally shot by Columbus police, on Sept. 19, 2016, exterior Metropolis Corridor in Columbus, Ohio. A federal jury on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, has discovered {that a} white Ohio police officer didn’t violate King’s civil rights when he shot and killed the boy whereas responding to a reported armed theft. (AP Photograph/John Minchillo, File)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal jury has discovered {that a} white Ohio police officer didn’t violate a Black teenager’s civil rights when he shot and killed the boy whereas responding to a reported armed theft.

Jurors reached their verdict Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by Tyre King’s grandmother. It challenged the police account of the capturing, alleging that the 13-year-old’s loss of life resulted from extreme pressure, racial discrimination and a failure by the police division to correctly examine and self-discipline officers for racially motivated or unconstitutional habits.

Columbus officer Bryan Mason shot King within the head and torso on Sept. 14, 2016, as the teenager ran from police and after King reached for what police later found was a BB gun in his waistband, authorities have stated. The gun, discovered on the scene, was designed to seem like an actual firearm and geared up with a laser sight.

The swimsuit additionally named town and its police division as defendants, however a federal decide dominated final summer season that there isn’t any proof town and the police division violated Tyre’s civil rights, which means they may not be held legally liable.

The household’s lawsuit cited witnesses who stated Mason used a racial slur after firing and that the BB gun Tyre reportedly had wasn’t seen.

Mason, who has stated he feared a “gunfight,” contended that he acted fairly to guard himself and denied having directed a slur towards the teenagers. A grand jury determined to not convey costs in opposition to him.

Sean Walton, a lawyer for King’s household, stated that they revered the jury’s determination, including that the panel “was given a tough determination they need to have by no means been confronted with.”

However within the assertion issued Thursday, Walton additionally sharply criticized how town dealt with the matter, saying officers “used each software at their disposal to keep away from being held accountable for killing a toddler.” He known as on town “to do what it takes to start out defending the individuals of this metropolis and cease traumatizing households, witnesses and those that have the braveness to talk fact.”

Columbus Metropolis Lawyer Zach Klein thanked the jury for its efforts.

“It’s unhappy and troublesome when any life is reduce brief, particularly that of a 13-year-old like Tyre King. We thank the decide and jury for taking the time to listen to and perceive the information of this case, and we respect their determination,” Klein stated.