An Indianapolis officer will not face charges for fatally shooting Dreasjon Reed, a 21-year-old who live streamed part of the police chase leading up to his death back in May.
Special Prosecutor Rosemary Khoury announced Tuesday that a special grand jury returned a “no bill” in the case, which means they could not find enough probable cause to charge or accuse Officer Dejoure Mercer with a crime, the Indianapolis Star reported.
According to IMPD, the deadly confrontation began with a vehicle pursuit around 6 p.m. on May 6. They said Reed was driving recklessly at the time and nearly struck several other cars as he veered off I-65.
IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams was the first to give chase and was later joined by IMPD Chief Randal Taylor, who was in a different car.
Several other officers also aided in the pursuit, but they were called off when Reed began driving too fast for their safety. A short time later however, Mercer spotted Reed driving eastbound on 62nd Street before pulling into a local business and parking his car.
Both Reed and the officer then exited their vehicles, sparking a foot chase.
Reed managed to capture some of the chase in a Facebook livestream in which the officer cannot be seen.
At one point, officers tased Reed, who in turn dropped his cellphone. The livestream continued for several minutes however, capturing the audio of an offensive comment from a responding officer just before the broadcast came to an end.
“Looks like it’s going to be a closed casket, homie,” said the officer, identified by the Star as Steven Scot
Fifteen casings were recovered at the scene. Police said they found a weapon at the scene belonged to Reed, and that Reed fired a weapon at Mercer.
Reed’s family has denied that he was armed.
In a statement issued after the decision Tuesday, the IMPD thanked the community for enduring 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,” it said.
Mayor Joe Hogsett in a statement to Star said that while the probe had ended, Reed’s death had raised significant questions about systemic racism and the criminal justice system.
“This decision ends the criminal review of the interaction but it doesn’t heal the divides in our community caused by a heartbreaking incident such as this,” he said.
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