BALTIMORE (AP) A judge has acquitted a Baltimore police officer in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken in police custody and whose case fueled outrage among activists of the Black Lives Matter movement. Here are the outcomes of some other cases where police have been investigated for the deaths of black Americans with whom they came in contact.
MICHAEL BROWN
The 18-year-old black man was shot and killed in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. A grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, the white officer who shot him. The Department of Justice also opted against bringing civil rights charges against Wilson.
TAMIR RICE
The black 12-year-old was shot and killed in November 2014 in Cleveland. A grand jury declined to indict two white officers who responded to the 911 call that Rice was pointing a gun at people in a city park. The gun turned out to be a toy that was missing the telltale orange tip indicating such. The city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.
ERIC GARNER
The 43-year-old black man died in July 2014 in New York City after a white officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. A grand jury declined to indict the officer who put Garner in the hold or any of the other officers involved in the arrest. The city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.
ERNEST SATTERWHITE
The 68-year-old black man was shot and killed in his driveway in Edgefield County, South Carolina, after leading police on a low-speed car chase. Prosecutors pursued manslaughter charges but a grand jury indicted him only for misdemeanor misconduct in office. The white officer who shot Satterwhite, Justin Craven, took a plea deal that resulted in a three years’ probation.
BERNARD BAILEY
The 54-year-old black man was shot and killed in May 2011 outside the town hall in Eutawville, South Carolina. Prosecutors charged the town’s then-police chief, Richard Combs, with murder in the shooting. Two trials ended in a mistrial and in 2015, Combs accepted a plea deal on a charge of misconduct in office that called a year of house arrest. The town reached a $400,000 wrongful death settlement with Bailey’s family.
AKAI GURLEY
The 28-year-old black man was shot and killed in a darkened stairwell in his girlfriend’s Brooklyn apartment in November 2014. A jury convicted the rookie officer _ Peter Liang, an American of Chinese descent _ of manslaughter, but in April the judge reduced the conviction to negligent homicide and sentenced Liang to five years’ probation and 800 hours of community service.
JONATHAN FERRELL
The 24-year-old black man was shot and killed in September 2013 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Ferrell was looking for help after being in a car crash, but the resident of a home where he banged on the door called police. A grand jury initially declined to indict the officer who shot him, Randall Kerrick, but prosecutors eventually brought Kerrick on trial for voluntary manslaughter. The trial resulted in a hung jury, and prosecutors opted against a retrial.
AIYANA STANLEY-JONES
The 7-year-old black girl was shot and killed in May 2010 during a police raid in Detroit that was filmed by a reality TV crew. The officer, Joseph Weekley, said he fired his weapon accidentally. A judge cleared Weekley of involuntary manslaughter. A separate misdemeanor charge was dropped last year after two juries couldn’t reach a verdict.
JEREMY MCDOLE
The 28-year-old black man who used a wheelchair was shot and killed in September 2015 in Wilmington, Delaware. Last month, the Delaware attorney general’s office opted against bringing criminal charges against any of the four Wilmington police officers involved in the shooting, even though a report accused one officer of “extraordinarily poor” police work. Police confronted McDole after receiving a 911 call about a man with a gun.
