A Michigan State Police trooper who crashed his unmarked SUV into a 25-year-old Kentwood man who was fleeing police has been charged with second degree murder.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges against Detective Sergeant Brian Keely on Tuesday after Michigan State Police Earlier this month, they concluded their investigation into the April 17 death of Samuel Sterling and released body camera footage showing the collision.
“Detective Sergeant Keely’s actions that day were legally, grossly negligent and created a very high risk of death or serious injury, which otherwise could have been avoided,” Nessel said in a video statement announcing the accusations.
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The death of Sterling, a black man, has reignited anger in a community still recovering from the death of Patrick Lyoya just over two years ago. Lyoya, also black, died after a Grand Rapids police officer shot him in the back of the head during a traffic stop. The shooting, recorded on a passerby’s phone, sparked protests. Former officer Christopher Schurr was charged with second-degree murder in the case and has pleaded not guilty.
In Sterling’s case, police say he fled from officers on foot April 17 after they approached him at a gas station in Kentwood — located just outside Grand Rapids — and attempted to arrest him on the basis of several outstanding arrest warrants.
A 15-minute video of the incident released May 10, which includes body and dashboard camera footage from three separate police departments, shows police pursuing Sterling as they ask him to stop and to put your hands in the air. As Sterling walks past a Burger King, he is hit by an unmarked car and slammed against the wall of the building.
A Michigan state trooper has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man he struck with an unmarked SUV.
Sterling can be heard moaning in pain as police call an ambulance. He died later that day in hospital.
Nessel filed a second-degree murder charge with an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter. No arraignment date has been set, Nessel said.
Marc Curtis, an attorney representing Keely, said in a statement that Nessel “chose to ignore the facts of this incident and rely on political pressure.” He said that while the loss of Sterling’s life “is tragic and can never be replaced,” it could have been avoided if Sterling had “simply complied with detectives’ orders.”
Ven Johnson, an attorney for Sterling’s family, said they supported Nessel’s decision.
Keely – who was not identified until the charges were announced – “was not wearing a body camera due to his assignment with a federal task force, and the unmarked vehicle he was driving did not was not equipped with an on-board camera,” according to a May 10 statement. Keely has been suspended, Michigan State Police Superintendent Col. James F. Grady II said in an April 18 statement.
Police said Sterling was “wanted on multiple warrants” but did not specify the nature of those warrants.
Michigan Department of Corrections records show Sterling violated the terms of his probation in June 2022 after being convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and theft of a shooting device. financial transaction.
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Top state lawmakers quickly denounced the officer’s actions after the footage surfaced. Governor Gretchen Whitmer called Sterling’s death “unacceptable” and a “deviation” from normal protocols. She said she expects the state to “take steps to terminate the officer’s employment if criminal charges are filed.”
