Former MS Coast deputy won’t face criminal charges in shooting death of college student

A Hancock County grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict former K-9 Deputy Michael Chase Blackwell of criminal wrongdoing in the Dec. 10, 2022, shooting death of a Florida college student, Isaiah Winkley.

Winkley had a bottle of Mentos candy in one hand and a metal T-post used for fencing in the other at the time of the fatal shooting.

The grand jury decision announced by the Attorney General’s Office Monday comes just four months after federal prosecutors agreed to forgo criminal prosecution of Blackwell in the same shooting in exchange for several key demands.

In the federal no-prosecution agreement obtained by the Sun Herald, Blackwell agreed to surrender his law enforcement credentials and to never serve again as a law enforcement officer anywhere in the United States for the rest of his life.

The unusual no-prosecution agreement, also used in cases against celebrities Bill Cosby and Jeffrey Epstein, stipulated it would have no bearing on the state’s criminal investigation into the shooting of Winkley, a 21-year-old senior majoring in cyber security at Pensacola Christian College at the time of his death.

“The plea deal struck by the capable lawyers with the DOJ, preventing Mr. Blackwell from ever serving in law enforcement anywhere in the U.S. for the rest of his life, was quality legal work with an effective result,” the Winkley’s attorney, Lance Stevens said Monday. “ I obviously cannot say the same for (MS Attorney General) Lynn Fitch’s legal work. Perhaps the case was too complicated or too politically disadvantageous for her.”

Fitch has not commented on the grand jury findings. Instead, Fitch sent a press release announcing the grand jury’s decision.

The shooting happened after Blackwell and two other deputies, Lt. Christopher Sholar and Deputy Laura (Laura Lynn) Yager, responded to a report of a burglary in progress at a vacant home.

Blackwell contends he shot and killed Winkey because of an “immediate” threat to his safety and the safety of the two other deputies.

Blackwell kept his police K-9 named Dark on a leash and was standing 8 feet away from Winkley at the time of the shooting. Lt. Sholar had already twice stunned Winkley with a Taser.

Winkley’s parents, the Rev. Dwight Winkley and his wife, Catherine, of Morehead, Georgia, said early on they felt their only son died as a result of alleged criminal wrongdoing.

In the aftermath of their son’s death, the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court in Gulfport against Blackwell, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Ricky Adam. That case is pending.

Blackwell submitted camera footage of the shooting in the civil case, but the Sun Herald was denied access to the footage after an attempt to intervene in the case.

In a statement further defending his actions, Blackwell said he kept his K-9 tied to a 30-foot line because his training taught him not to send a K-9 into a deadly force encounter.

Attorney, judges question deputy’s actions

Attorney Stevens reviewed detailed reports on the shooting and call logs and listened to audio recordings of interviews with Blackwell about the day the former deputy killed Winkley.

After reviewing the camera footage, Stevens called what happened to Winkley a homicide.

“There’s no question it’s a homicide,” Stevens said. “The family wants everybody to see the videos, so they know that the unarmed Isaiah never advanced on any officer an inch and that Isaiah never said one word or did one thing threatening to the three officers who were screaming profanities with weapons drawn and a police dog at the ready.”

An autopsy showed Winkley was shot five times. A toxicology screen showed Winkley was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the shooting but did have caffeine in his system.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola has since reviewed the camera footage as part of the civil action. Based on what he saw in the footage, Guirola denied Blackwell’s request to grant him qualified immunity in the civil case.

Qualified immunity protects government officials, including law enforcement officers, from civil liability if their actions could reasonably be believed to be legal.

When denying Blackwell’s request not to be held liable for Winkley’s death, Guirola said he had reviewed the camera footage and said, “There exist material questions of fact whether Officer Blackwell faced an immediate threat of death or bodily injury at the time he applied deadly force.”

As part of the same ruling, Guirola said the footage “reveals that both of Winkley’s hands were plainly visible to Blackwell at all times, and Winkley never brandished the contents of either hand in a threatening manner.”

“If the officer could reasonably use less than deadly force, he must,” the judge added, pointing to other cases where an officer accused of using excessive force could not escape civil liability in a shooting “anytime he claims he saw a gun.”

And Blackwell, the judge wrote, couldn’t escape liability simply “because he saw a suspect holding a post.”

An epiphany and sharing scripture

The week before the shooting Isaiah Winkley told his friends and family he had what his attorney called “an epiphany” and felt he’d been called on to share God’s word.

The family’s attorney said that over the days and nights ahead, Winkley did not sleep, spending his time instead sending scripture to classmates and friends.

At some point later, Winkley got in his car and drove to Mississippi. He didn’t tell anyone he was heading there.

Winkley’s Mercedes went off the road and ended up stuck near Highway 603 in front of St. Matthew Catholic Church. From there, Winkley’s attorney said he walked down Highway 603 until he reached the home where he died.

Before the shooting, Winkley had never been in trouble with law enforcement officials.

At the time of his death, Stevens said Winkley “believed that God had put a special mission before him, one that he embraced in a most enthusiastic, and ultimately unhealthy, way.”

However, Stevens said Winkley did not do anything to warrant his killing.

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