Officer Jeronimo Yanez, the cop who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July, has officially been charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.
Castile’s murder was captured on Facebook Live by his girlfriend who was driving the vehicle. The footage quickly went viral as the public witnessed a wounded Castile being left to die while his girlfriend and daughter looked on in horror.
On Wednesday, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced his findings concluded that “use of deadly force by Officer Yanez was not justified.” Choi said Wednesday, that after being handed the case in September, he chose to make the decision on charging Yanez himself, rather than turning the case over to a grand jury. “My conscience tells me that it would be wrong for me to ask a grand jury to make this decision when I know what needs to be done,” Choi said. Choi believes that when it comes to Yanez’s choice to draw his firearm at Castile it was “not enough… to express subjective fear of death or great bodily harm.”
Following Castile’s death , audio recording from Yanez to police dispatch was released, showing that Yanez believed Castile matched the description of an armed robber because he was black with a wide set nose. When he was pulled over and asked for registration, Castile, who works as a cafeteria worker at a local elementary school, informed Officer Yanez that he had a registered gun in his glove compartment.
Despite being made aware that there was a licensed firearm in the vehicle, Yanez’s attorney, Tom Kelly, has said Yanez, who is Latino, was reacting to the presence of a gun.
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