The fate of eight Ohio cops is in the hands of a special convening of the grand jury in Akron, Ohio this week as they must decide whether the officers in question, seven of whom are white, will be indicted for their involvement in Jayland Walker’s killing.
Last June, Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot and killed after a traffic stop went grossly wrong. According to the police, they attempted to pull Walker “over for minor equipment violations and he failed to stop, then fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.”
However, body camera footage does not fully back up the officers claims and shows Walker exiting his vehicle and running “into a parking lot, where pursuing officers opened fire,” Associated Press writes.
At the time, Lisa Kohler, Summit County’s Medical Examiner said “There are 46 entrance wounds. There are 15 exit wounds, and five of the wounds that would be in with the entrances are graze wounds,” calling Walker’s wounds “devastating.”
Walker’s family was forced to mourn two losses. May 28, 2022 Walker’s fiancée Jaymeisha Beasley died after a semi-truck rear-ended her and her family, and she was ejected from the vehicle. A car then hit Beasley, leading to her death. The fatal hit-and-run– in which her mom and sister were both passengers– was just two months before Walker was killed by police.
On Friday, ahead of Monday’s convening, Stephanie Marsh, a city spokesperson, said that “the city of Akron has been preparing for the grand jury results since last summer,” adding “[t]he most important part of our preparation has been building relationships with our community members and establishing better lines of communication.”
This is evidenced by the fact that in an uncommon move, chief prosecutor for Akron, Craig Morgan, held a livestream Friday breaking down the basics and explaining the grand jury process to the community. “A grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence,” he stated. “The purpose of the grand jury is to determine whether sufficient probable cause exists to charge a person or persons with a particular offense or offenses.”
It is anticipated that prosecutors will take approximately a week to present the case and accompanying evidence, but Morgan has expressed that the unknown variable revolves around how long jurors will deliberate the case before landing on a decision.
In Walker’s case, nine registered Summit County voters will be empaneled. Three to five additional people who will be alternates. As ABC News reports, “[a]t least seven jurors are required to vote yes in order to issue an indictment, also referred to as a true bill.”
The cops’ brutal shooting of Walker, who was unarmed at the time of his death, prompted a spate of protests last year around law enforcement’s continued mistreatment of Black people, with many citing the fact that for Black people, what should be a routine encounter with the police, too often winds up turning into another senseless killing of an unarmed Black person.
Ahead of today’s grand jury meeting, Morgan issued a warning to protestors, indicating that if violence is used, they should expect to be arrested and subsequently prosecuted.