A grand jury is now reviewing evidence to decide if charges should be brought forth against a white police officer who shot and killed a young boy in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Cuyahoga County prosecutors have said the case would go to a grand jury for a recommendation on whether or not there should be charges against the officers involved.
It turned out that the only weapon that Rice had was an Airsoft pellet gun, but Loehmann and officer Frank Garmback both thought it was real.
The Cuyahoga Prosecutors office did not return The Independent’s request for comment. Officer Loehmann shot him within two seconds of arriving on the scene. The process, which is conducted in secret hearings, could take several weeks.
“I wish Tim McGinty would be more transparent with me”, she said, “and let me and the community know what’s going on with the process”.
According to the prosecutor’s office, three grand juries were seated in September and will meet through December.
Activists have complained the investigation is taking too long. The officers responding were not told by dispatchers that the caller had said it might be a child with a fake gun.
McGinty’s stated reason for releasing the reports is that he’s “trying to break that pattern” of secrecy and opacity surrounding grand juries.
The criticism was in response to the October 10 release of two reports that McGinty sought from retired Virginia Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Kimberly Crawford and Denver-area prosecutor S. Lamar Sims. These public reports came well in advance of the grand jury, and according to a few experts may unfairly color the proceedings in Loehmann’s favor.
“Do you all think the killing of my child was constitutionally justified?”
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Subodh Chandra, the attorney for Tamir’s family, noted in an emailed statement to Cleveland.com Tuesday that McGinty has dragged the investigation along and has never stated whether he plans to ask the grand jury to charge the officers.
