Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday for the fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July, Ramsey County Attorney, John Choi, announced.
“Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts, I have come to the conclusion that there simply was no justificationfor the use of deadly force by Officer Yanez in this case," Choi said. "No reasonable officer who knew, saw, and heard what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances."
Choi filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday charging Yanez with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of intentional discharge of a dangerous weapon that "endangered the safety of Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter who were present in Castile's car during the incident.
On July 6, Yanez pulled over Castile for a non-working break light. Within minutes, Yanez pulled out his firearm and shot Castile seven times, killing him.
Reynolds used Facebook to live stream the graphic aftermath of the shooting, showing Castile lying in the car with his blood-soaked shirt.
Choi said that body camera footage and audio captured the entire encounter. He said that during the exchange of words with Yanez, Castile "volunteered in good faith" that he had a firearm.
When Yanez repeatedly asked him not to pull out the firearm, Castile and Reynolds both assured him that he wasn't reaching for his gun. However, Yanez pulled out his gun and fired seven shots in rapid succession, Choi said. Castile's final words before he died were, "I wasn't reaching for it," Choi said.
"Castile never removed or tried to remove his gun from his front right pocket," Choi said. "There was no criminal intent exhibited by him through this encounter. He was respectful and compliant. He did not exhibit any intent or reasons to shoot the officer."
Yanez is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
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