Grand jury rules they do not have enough evidence to charge officer for shooting a black man in the back
A Colorado grand jury ruled that charges would not be brought against Colorado Springs officers in the fatal shooting of De’von Bailey, according to a statement from the chief.
Wednesday’s ruling was a “No True Bill,” which dismisses the defendants when the grand jury does not find enough evidence to charge the defendant, according to a statement from Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski.
CNN has reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment.
In August, 19-year-old Bailey was shot in the back as he ran away from police when they tried to stop him for an alleged robbery in the area. Police later found that he was armed.
“What happened on August 3, 2019, is something neither police officers nor citizens ever want to experience,” the chief said in a statement. “The loss of a son, a friend, a community member, is a devastating event that impacts all of us.”
In body camera footage of the incident, an officer stops Bailey and another man as they’re walking and asks them about a robbery in the area. He tells them to put their hands up and that officers are going to search them for a gun.
A second officer approaches, and Bailey starts running. Yelling “Hands up, hands up,” the officers shoot at Bailey. Bailey falls and is seen bleeding from wounds in his back.
The officers call for medical help. Searching Bailey, who can be heard moaning in the video, the officers find a gun and cut his pants off to secure the weapon.
Bailey later died at a hospital, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
The officers did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment at the time.
The shooting involving the Colorado Springs Police Department was handed over to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for investigation, the statement said. Their investigation was given to the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office which could decide to make a ruling or hand the decision over to a grand jury.
The Bailey family attorney, Darold Killmer, has called the relationship between the departments “friendly” and has questioned the integrity of the investigation.
“It is certainly not a surprise to get a bad result when a tainted investigation is presented to a grand jury by a biased prosecutor. This is the exact reason why we have called for an independent investigation and an independent prosecution from the beginning,” Killmer told CNN. “The refusal to allow an independent investigation doomed the chances of a fair outcome from the outset. This is the result that the Colorado Springs DA’s Office and the police wanted, and it’s the decision they caused to happen.”
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, District Attorney Dan May said his office believes that the Grand Jury was thorough in gathering the evidence to make an independent assessment.
