Federal jury sides with Columbus officer in Tyre King's death

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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Tyre King, 13, was fatally shot on Sept. 14, 2016, by Columbus police Officer Bryan Mason after King reportedly reached for an air-powered pellet gun in his waistband during his arrest with another suspect.
Tyre King, 13, was fatally shot on Sept. 14, 2016, by Columbus police Officer Bryan Mason after King reportedly reached for an air-powered pellet gun in his waistband during his arrest with another suspect.

A federal jury has sided with a Columbus police officer in a civil lawsuit filed over the shooting death of 13-year-old Tyre King in 2016.

The jury in Columbus ruled on Wednesday that Bryan Mason did not violate King's constitutional right to be free from excessive force.

Mason fatally shot King as he ran from police after King reached for what police later found out was a BB gun in his waistband. The gun, found at the scene, was designed to look like a real firearm and equipped with a laser sight.

Police officer Bryan Mason
Police officer Bryan Mason

In 2017, a Franklin County grand jury chose not to indict Mason on criminal charges related to King's death.

King’s grandmother, Dearrea King, filed the civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in 2018. The lawsuit originally named the City of Columbus and then-Chief of Police Kim Jacobs but they were later dropped from the suit.

In court documents, Dearrea King's attorney, Sean Walton, claimed a witness said he never saw King holding a gun and Mason used a racial slur after shooting King. The federal jury trial lasted six days.

The 2016 shooting was the third Mason was involved with on the job in nine years on the force. The Columbus Division of Police cleared him of wrongdoing in all of them. In 2009 and 2012, Mason was involved in fatal shootings of men who first shot and wounded other officers.

During a press conference on Sept. 15, 2016 at City Hall, then-Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs holds a photo of the kind of BB gun used by 13-year-old Tyree King, who was shot multiple times by officer Bryan Mason.
During a press conference on Sept. 15, 2016 at City Hall, then-Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs holds a photo of the kind of BB gun used by 13-year-old Tyree King, who was shot multiple times by officer Bryan Mason.

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What happened the day Tyre King was killed?

On the day of King's fatal shooting — Sept. 14, 2016 — police were responding to a report of an armed robbery.

Franklin County prosecutors have said King and then-19-year-old Demetrius Braxton robbed a victim of $10 on the Near East Side. Prosecutors said Braxton was the one who pointed the fake gun at the victim, taking the money, before he and King ran away.

Police said Braxton complied with a request from pursuing officers to get on the ground, but King appeared to reach into his waistband for the fake gun.

Braxton pleaded guilty in 2016 to robbery and a Franklin County judge sentenced him to three years in prison.

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Both sides react to decision

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, whose office represented Mason, gave this statement to The Dispatch Thursday: “It is sad and difficult when any life is cut short, especially that of a 13-year-old like Tyre King. We thank the judge and jury for taking the time to hear and understand the facts of this case, and we respect their decision.”

Walton said his client respects the jury's decision but the City of Columbus went to great lengths to "protect their own version of the truth," including discrediting witnesses instead of investigating their claims.

"From the day Tyre was killed, the City of Columbus has used every tool at their disposal to avoid being held accountable for killing a child," Walton said. "They blamed Tyre for his own death. They blamed the children who were with Tyre for his death ...."

Braxton and three other then-teenagers who were with King in the hours before he was shot were added as third-party defendants to the lawsuit in 2019 at the City of Columbus' request. This means the teens could have been required to pay if the city or the officer had been found liable, but they were dropped from the lawsuit before the trial.

Klein's office argued in court documents at the time that King's death was a consequence of their actions when the group drove around in a stolen car and decided to rob someone with the replica firearm that King had. Unlike Braxton, the other three teens were not charged with a crime related to the robbery.

"We call on the City of Columbus to do what it takes to start protecting the people of this city and stop traumatizing families, witnesses and those who have the courage to speak truth," Walton said.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story did not mention the third-party defendants were dropped from the federal civil case before trial.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Federal jury sides with Columbus cop who shot 13-year-old in 2016