Wire Report
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s attorney general said she will not retry a white police officer after jurors failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a Black motorist.
Jurors Sept. 28 deadlocked on the charge against Mississippi Capitol Police officer Michael Rhinewalt and acquitted a second Capitol police officer, Steven Frederick, who was also charged with manslaughter in the 2022 shooting of 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis.
Both officers who shot Lewis are white. Six of the nine jurors were Black, according to published reports.
Lewis mother, Arkela Lewis, and other family members have yet to respond publicly to news that Rhinewalt would not be retried.
The case has raised questions about policing in the majority-Black city of Jackson and prompted a federal wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against both officers and Mississippi authorities.
The lawsuit, unaffected by the ruling, alleges that officers used “excessive and unjustified force” by shooting Lewis and that the department promoted policies that fostered a culture of violence, failed to properly train or supervise officers, and ignored warnings about unconstitutional policing, according to published reports.
Besides compensatory and punitive damages, the family is seeking court-ordered reforms to prevent future tragedies, according to published reports.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office, which prosecuted the two officers, said in a statement that it “followed the process” and will not pursue a new trial against Rhinewalt.
“In the case of a tie, the benefit of the doubt goes to our law enforcement officers,” the statement said, adding that the “men and women who wear the uniform have earned that.”
The two officers testified that they opened fire on Lewis in self-defense after he rammed a police vehicle and drove toward them.
“Both of them were in fear for their life and each other’s safety,” Merrida Coxwell, an attorney for Frederick, told the Associated Press in a phone interview Sept. 29. “It was horrible and it was tragic. All he had to do was stop.”
Prosecutors said Lewis and his passenger did not know they were being stopped by police. The officers were driving unmarked cars and were in plain clothes with vests. At the time of the shooting, the department did not require officers to wear body cameras.
Rhinewalt is also charged with assault in another police shooting in 2022. Sherita Harris says Rhinehart shot her in the head during a pursuit after a traffic stop. Rhinewalt and another officer charged in that case say Harris fled after they exited their patrol vehicle, and they heard gunshots from the car as they gave chase. Both officers have pleaded not guilty.
Rhinewalt’s lawyers did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails.
Wave staff contributed to this report.
