The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officer who fatally shot 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed won’t face criminal charges, a grand jury announced Tuesday night.
IMPD officer Dejoure Mercer shot Reed during a foot pursuit May 6, sparking a string of protests and demands that Mercer face consequences.
Special Prosecutor Rosemary Khoury, who was appointed to oversee the criminal investigation, said the grand jury determined there wasn’t enough probable cause to charge the officer.
“This has not been an easy task and it’s been a very heavy burden,” Khoury said.
Later, Khoury said through tears that she is the mother of two Black boys.
“I am also very empathetic toward Officer Mercer. I know that had to be a difficult position to be in,” she said. “No one wins.”
Khoury stressed Indiana law prohibited her from discussing what evidence was presented to the grand jury. A separate but coordinated news conference was held shortly after Khoury’s announcement during which Indiana State Police investigators laid out, in detail, what they say happened during the final 16 minutes of Reed’s life.
The ISP investigation concluded that Reed was armed, that he fired two shots after he had been tased by Mercer and that he was then shot multiple times by Mercer, including while they were facing each other.
The ISP also said evidence in Reed’s phone indicated his involvement in two previous drive-by shootings — no one was injured — and that cartridges collected by IMPD in those shootings matched the gun that was in Reed’s possession when he was shot.
The shooting
Part of the shooting was captured on Reed’s Facebook Live, which he began recording while he was driving and before the foot pursuit.
According to IMPD, the vehicle pursuit started on I-65 near 30th Street around 6 p.m. when IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams saw Reed driving recklessly. Police said Reed’s car almost struck other vehicles while it exited the interstate.
Adams initiated a pursuit and IMPD Chief Randal Taylor, who was in a different car, aided. Once other officers joined the pursuit, Adams and Taylor stopped pursuing Reed.
But by 6:10 p.m. an IMPD sergeant ordered officers to stop due to how fast Reed was driving. Police said Mercer then saw Reed driving eastbound on 62nd Street before parking at a business. Both Mercer and Reed left their cars, and a foot pursuit began.
Police said there was a confrontation between the two near the intersection of West 62nd Street and Michigan Road that involved an exchange of gunfire, and Mercer called in the shooting at 6:16 p.m. Police said Mercer used his service weapon after a Taser deployment was “ineffective.”
Fifteen casings were recovered at the scene. Police said a weapon found at the scene belonged to Reed, and that Reed fired a weapon at Mercer. The family and their attorneys have denied that claim.
Reed’s family later filed a lawsuit against the City of Indianapolis and the IMPD, though IMPD has since been removed from the lawsuit after a judge determined that past court rulings say city agencies are protected from certain lawsuits. Chief Taylor, Deputy Chief Kendale Adams, Officer Mercer and Officer Steven Scott are all listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
Scott is the IMPD officer who made a comment about Reed needing a “closed casket” after the shooting. The comment was captured on Reed’s Facebook Live video.
Reaction to grand jury decision
In a statement, IMPD thanked residents for awaiting the conclusion of the lengthy investigation.
“We understand that this result may be frustrating for some of our residents, but it is our hope that the full transparency offered by Prosecutor Khoury and Superintendent Carter will help to move our city forward, improve the relationship between our officers and neighborhoods, and bring us closer to healing the division in our community,” the statement said.
‘He didn’t deserve to die like that’:Dreasjon Reed’s dad speaks after shooting
In a statement, the African American Coalition of Indianapolis acknowledged the impact of Reed’s death on the Black community and his family.
“We like to believe that justice is clear, recognizable and a product of a collective consensus. Justice should be obvious,” the coalition said. “However, too often when it has come to the death of Black males in police action shootings there has not been a clear, recognizable, and collective community consensus on whether justice has been achieved.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement that Reed’s death has raised understandable questions produced by centuries of racism and mistrust.
“This decision ends the criminal review of the interaction but it doesn’t heal the divides in our community cause by a heartbreaking incident such as this,” the statement said.
Hogsett thanked the faith and community leaders and applauded recent changes to the department, including changes to the use of force policy, a new use-of-force review board that has more civilians than officers and a new General Orders Board — also consisting of a majority of citizens — that ultimately determines department policy.
