DA's office clears police officers in three separate fatal shootings

In her final weeks as Shelby County District Attorney, outgoing prosecutor Amy Weirich announced Friday afternoon that her office had cleared police officers of criminal charges in three separate fatal shootings.

The cases involved these shootings in 2021:

- Antonio Jackson, 26, on Aug. 16. The prosecutor's office said a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant tried to arrest him, and that Jackson hit the lieutenant with his car before the officer fatally shot him. The death led to a vigil and questions from grieving relatives.

An investigative file prepared by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation includes quotes from officers who said they had been following Jackson as part a long-term drug investigation, and hoped to carry out a traffic stop when his car was stationary at an apartment complex.

Deputies said Jackson's vehicle moved fast, hitting a law enforcement officer so hard he flew into the air. "I landed on the vehicle and at that time I shot at him because I feared for my life," the unnamed deputy is quoted as saying.

The deputy said he had landed on the vehicle's windshield when he fired shots. "I was on top of him," he's quoted as saying.

Jackson died of a gunshot wound to the chest, an autopsy report says.

A search of the car identified items including a stolen pistol with Jackson's fingerprint on it, the report says.

The TBI report says the search also recovered suspected drugs — these items later tested positive for drugs including cocaine and fentanyl.

The officer was treated at a local hospital and the report includes pictures of scrapes to the officer's knees.

The report doesn't include any references to body cameras, and it's not clear if the deputies were wearing them.

- Kayla Lucas, 25, on Dec. 15. The prosecutor's office said she was in a stolen car at a McDonald's and tried to speed away, almost hitting officers before she was fatally shot.

A body camera video released on a county web site shows the shooting from the perspective of the officer who fired shots. The first minute of the video shows the officer, a passenger in a police car, driving up to the McDonald's.

The key events unfold in about 15 seconds. At the 56-second mark of the body camera video, the officer opens the door and gets out of the cruiser, immediately drawing his pistol.

At 1:00 of the video, a white car can be seen backing up quickly. It's not clear from this angle if it strikes other vehicles, but the TBI report says the white car backed into another police car.

At 1:01, another police officer appears to lose balance and fall down in front of the white car, using an arm to prop himself up.

Someone — perhaps the first officer — shouts "Watch out! Watch out!" At that moment, the first officer fires several shots, then shouts "Stop!" The white car drifts slowly toward the wall of the restaurant and comes to a stop, and the officer fires about twice more.

Police officers approach the car and take a man out of the front passenger seat. They remove a woman — apparently the driver — through a rear door of the vehicle.

Someone, probably the first officer who fired shots, shouts "You almost hit my partner!" He repeatedly tells the woman "Stop reaching!" This part of the video is blurred, but he may strike her — a sound like a slap is audible.

The woman appears badly hurt. The first officer shouts for an ambulance. A pool of blood spreads on the pavement outside of the blurred area of the screen. A female officer pumps the woman's chest in chest compressions.

- Terrance Dogan, 27, and John Henry Taylor, 18, on Dec. 16, were both fatally shot by an Arkansas State Trooper following a high-speed chase that ended in Memphis. In that case, the prosecutor's office said Dogan shot at the trooper and hit his protective vest.

A dashcam video released by the prosecutor office shows a car driving past a stopped police vehicle. A sound like "Thump thump thump thump" is audible. Someone says "Oh! He just shot me! He just shot me! (Expletive!)"

At that moment, someone appears to lean out of the driver's side window of the suspects' vehicle and fire more shots toward the police car — a muzzle flash is visible.

The chase continues for a few seconds more, then more than 10 shots are heard. The car that's being chased slowly pulls to the side of the road and stops.

The state trooper later told investigators he had taken his rifle and fired back at the other car — apparently shooting through his own vehicle's windshield.

More about the process

Each of these shooting cases was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which then hands its file to Weirich's office for a determination of any criminal charges.

Weirich's office had previously cleared officers of wrongdoing in about 20 shooting cases in a row, including some cases that later resulted in civil liability for local governments.

For instance, the prosecutor's office cleared Shelby County Sheriff's deputies in the fatal 2016 shooting of Edmund "Eddie" Studdard.

Studdard had cut himself with a blade before deputies shot him, and his family argued he was suicidal and posed no threat to officers. The county government later paid $800,000 to settle the case.

More: Studdard case: Shelby County pays hefty sum to settle shooting lawsuit

Weirich's office has also kept names and identifying details of police officers secret, releasing investigation documents online, but with heavy redactions.

More: Officer REDACTED: In shooting probes, police avoid TBI interviews, DA covers identities

In a news release announcing the three latest cases, the prosecutor's office referenced the redaction practice:

"The TBI reports and photographs posted on the District Attorney’s website have been redacted in accordance with Tennessee law and privacy standards. If the officer or officers involved in the death are not charged with a crime, their name or names also will be redacted."

Though Weirich's office has generally cleared police officers of wrongdoing in on-the-job shooting cases, her office has charged at least one police officer with a crime for an alleged on-the-job killing.

Patric Ferguson is accused of using his Memphis Police Department squad car in 2021 to carry out the kidnapping and killing of a man he knew, 30-year-old Robert Howard. Ferguson faces charges of first-degree murder and related counts and remains jailed.

Weirich, a Republican, was defeated in an election earlier this month by Democrat Steve Mulroy.

Mulroy has said he'll change how the prosecutor's office handles officer-involved shooting cases, saying that an independent prosecutor should always be requested.

Mulroy takes office on Sept. 1.

The release of three shooting investigations at once is unusual — the prosecutor's office usually releases shooing investigation results one at a time.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office didn't immediately respond to questions about the timing of the release and the possibility that the office had withheld the investigation results until after the election.

Investigative reporter Daniel Connolly welcomes tips and comments from the public. Reach him at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County DA's office clears police officers in three shootings