Former St. Louis police officer who shot driver after car chase found not guilty in murder trial
Crowds of demonstrators began to march in the St. Louis region on Friday following the acquittal of a white former police officer who was charged with murder last year for fatally shooting a black driver after a car chase and then accused by prosecutors of planting a gun on the victim.
Prosecutors charged Jason Stockley, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, with murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. According to the probable cause statement, Stockley was caught saying he was “going to kill this motherf‑‑‑er, don’t you know it” and was heard telling another officer to drive into Smith’s slowing car.
The court document, submitted by the St. Louis circuit attorney, said Stockley then approached Smith’s window and fired five times into the car, hitting Smith “with each shot” and killing him. In addition, prosecutors say, there was a gun found in Smith’s car, but it was later determined to only have DNA from Stockley.
State and local officials say they have been preparing for the unrest that could follow Stockley’s acquittal Friday, following demonstrations that erupted after other area police shootings, acquittals and decisions not to file charges.
Judge Timothy Wilson, the circuit judge who heard the case in a bench trial, acquitted Stockley on the murder charge as well as a charge of armed criminal action in a 30-page order released Friday morning.
Wilson wrote that he was “simply not firmly convinced” of Stockley’s guilt, saying that “agonizingly,” he went over the case’s evidence repeatedly. Ultimately, Wilson said, he was not convinced that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley “did not act in self-defense,” as the former officer had said.
Some schools were shuttered around the St. Louis area and events set for the region were postponed as the verdict loomed, and media reports suggested it could arrive Friday.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) on Thursday put the state’s National Guard on standby in advance of the verdict and potential protests.
“We know this verdict causes pain for many people,” Greitens said in a statement Friday. “We have been in touch with city and county officials, and the state of Missouri will continue to assist them. I’m committed to protecting everyone’s constitutional right to protest peacefully, while also protecting people’s lives, homes, and communities. For anyone who protests, please do so peacefully.”
Greitens had said putting the National Guard on standby was “a necessary precaution.” Before the verdict was announced, Greitens stood with Christina Wilson, Smith’s fiancee, to deliver a joint message asking people to protest peacefully.
“If you feel like you want to speak out, speak how you feel,” Wilson said at the news briefing. “And whatever comes to you, just do it in a peaceful way.”
Greitens, speaking after Wilson, said he knew people could feel pain after the verdict, but asked them not to “turn that pain into violence.”
“One life has been lost in this case, and we don’t need more bloodshed,” he said.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a statement Friday that she is “appalled” by what happened to Smith.
“I am sobered by this outcome. Frustration, anger, hurt, pain, hope and love all intermingle,” she wrote. “I will continue my work to create a more equitable community.”
An attorney for Stockley did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The potential for unrest has gripped the St. Louis region, which was rocked in 2014 when an officer in suburban Ferguson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager.
That shooting prompted intense, sometimes violent protests, as did the decision months later not to indict that officer, Darren Wilson. The case, and the protests that followed, garnered worldwide attention, and in many ways it kick-started the intense nationwide focus on how police officers use deadly force, particularly against black men and boys.
Since Ferguson, police shootings or other uses of force — and ensuing decisions not to charge the officers in most of the cases involved — have set off heated protests in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Charlotte and scores of other cities across the country.
Read the full story at The Washington Post.
This undated family photo supplied by Christina Wilson shows Anthony Lamar Smith holding his daughter Autumn Smith. Anthony Lamar Smith was killed in 2011 during a confrontation with police. A judge may be close to a ruling in the case against Former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Smith. Gov. Eric Greitens says he’s has put the National Guard on standby in case unrest breaks out. (Family photo courtesy Christina Wilson via AP)
Officials begin erecting barricades outside the Thomas F. Eagleton federal courthouse in St. Louis on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, before an expected verdict in the trial of former St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley. St. Louis police officers will begin working 12-hour shifts starting Friday in anticipation of a ruling in the trial. Stockley fatally shot 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. Stockley testified Smith was reaching for a gun in his car. Prosecutors say Stockley planted the gun. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens walks in speak to civic leaders and clergy at Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church ahead of a verdict in the trial of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in St. Louis. Stockley is accused in the 2011 killing of a black man following a high-speed chase, prompting clergy to warn of possible unrest if he is acquitted. Former St. Louis officer Jason Stockley’s trial ended last month, but Judge Timothy Wilson has yet to rule. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
FILE – This undated file photo provided by the St. Louis Police Department shows former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. A television station reported that a ruling is expected Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, in Stockley’s case, and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has put the National Guard on standby in case unrest breaks out. (St. Louis Police Department via AP, File)
This undated family photo supplied by Christina Wilson shows Anthony Lamar Smith holding his daughter Autumn Smith. Anthony Lamar Smith was killed in 2011 during a confrontation with police. A judge may be close to a ruling in the case against Former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of Smith. Gov. Eric Greitens says he’s has put the National Guard on standby in case unrest breaks out. (Family photo courtesy Christina Wilson via AP)