Acting on an anonymous tip, Seneca, S.C. police officer Mark Tiller shot and killed 19-year-old Zachary Hammond in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in July … The night of July 26 was a tragic event for this community and I personally will always grieve for the Hammond family.
Advertisement
Adams would not offer further details about the findings, citing a separate probe by the US Department of Justice.
Lt. Mark Tiller violated proper police procedures in running up to Hammond’s auto rather than staying back behind his own vehicle door while he attempted to make an arrest, but that doesn’t constitute a criminal violation, Adams said in a letter to the State Law Enforcement Division, which investigated the shooting. Chrissy T. Adams, the prosecutor who reviewed the case, determined that Tiller may have indeed been run over, as he claimed in his defense, which would allow for use of deadly force in her mind.
“We learned that there was never a toxicology test performed on Lt. Tiller at all at any time”, Bland said. State Highway Patrol Trooper Jarrod Duncan received a text from someone who went by the name “Tori” and offering to sell drugs.
Morton – the target of the cops’ undercover sting – was not injured and later was charged with simple possession of marijuana.
Bland said there are a number of questions that Adams admitted are unanswered.
Moon subsequently resigned from the Seneca Police Department, and, “Video evidence from the scene confirms that there was no wrongdoing by any responding Seneca officers”, Adams wrote.
One of the officers shouted the driver had a gun, the attorney added, and moments later Mr Hammond was fatally wounded.
Ronald Richter Jr., an attorney for the family, said they respect Adams’ work, but “we completely disagree with the decision not to go forward”.
Hammond’s parents, Angie and Paul Hammond, and their attorneys spoke after meeting with Adams on Tuesday morning.
“Hammond had been on a unsafe and destructive course for a significant period of his life”, she said.
“That was the most important thing to finally get a few answers to what happened to their son that night”, Richter said. “It was very painful for them to watch that, but for the first time they have a better understanding of what took place”, he told The Associated Press. “As stated from day one, Lt. Tiller acted in self-defense and the decision today supports this position”, attorney John M. Mussetto said in a statement.
Tiller has been on administrative leave since the shooting.
Dietterick expressed appreciation to Adams, Seneca Police Chief John Covington and other city officials. Tiller shot at Hammond as he tried to drive away.
“The past three months have been extremely hard for the residents of Seneca, its city employees and the 45 members of its police force. I met with the Hammond family today and have informed them of this decision”.
Lawyer Eric Bland has said the family talked to the Morton, looked at private surveillance camera footage and did the private autopsy.
The family lawsuit also claimed that after paramedics determined Hammond was dead, his body was left for 90 minutes on the ground, where it was bitten and stung by ants.
A second officer is also accused of giving the lifeless teenager’s body a high-five sometime after other investigators arrived, NBC News reported.
Advertisement
In legal papers, lawyers have acknowledged that the second officer may have said something about inappropriate contact with Hammond’s body.
