5 Oklahoma City police officers charged after teen dies from 13 gunshots
Five Oklahoma City Police officers have been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy in November.
The officers, who responded to a report of an attempted armed robbery at an Oklahoma City convenience store on Nov. 23, arrived to find Stavian Rodriguez holding what was believed to be a gun in the parking lot.
Police body-cam footage of the encounter appears to show the teenager initially dropping the weapon and raising his arms in the air.
But then Rodriguez lowered his hands again, leading the officers to open fire simultaneously, leaving the boy mortally wounded, according to The Associated Press.
An autopsy later determined Rodriguez died after being shot 13 times.
Authorities have not definitively said whether the boy had actually been involved in the alleged crime at the gas station.
Since the shooting, the boy’s mother sued the department for the release of the body-camera footage and the deputies have remained on administrative leave.
All five now face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges, which were brought Wednesday by Oklahoma City District Attorney David Prater.
The officers’ names are Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton, the AP reported.
A sixth officer at the scene, Sarah Carli, was not charged because she used “less-lethal” means in an effort to subdue Rodriguez, the AP reported.
The official police account of the incident suggests Carli first fired a “less-lethal” round on Rodriguez. At that moment, the boy lowered one hand to his pocket and his other hand to his waist, reports said.
His actions proved fatal, as the five other officers “unnecessarily fired lethal rounds at Stavian Rodriguez, striking him numerous times and inflicting mortal wounds,” according to an affidavit written by Willard Paige, an investigator for the prosecution.
John George, the president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police union, however, said the officers were within their legal rights to use deadly force.
“Officers must make life-and-death decisions in a split second, relying on their training. When an armed robbery suspect did not obey police commands, five officers perceived the same threat and simultaneously fired their weapons,” he said. “A loss of life is always a tragedy, and we know these officers did not take firing their weapons lightly. The OKC FOP stands by these officers and maintains they acted within the law.”
About the Author
ArLuther Lee is a visual editor and occasionally covers national and world news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from The University of Florida and has been a journalist for more than 25 years.
