2 Indianapolis police officers acquitted in death of man who was restrained

Two Indianapolis police officers charged in the death of a man who was stunned and restrained on the ground during a mental health crisis were acquitted Friday of manslaughter, officials said.

The jury found Indianapolis police officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez not guilty on all counts more than two years after the death of Herman Whitfield III.

The father of the 39-year-old had called police around 3:20 a.m. April 25, 2022, and asked for an ambulance, saying his son was “having a psychosis,” officials have said.

Officers found Whitfield naked, bleeding from the mouth and walking around and eventually used a stun gun on him after he “moved quickly towards an officer,” the police department said at the time.

Whitfield was restrained with handcuffs and died. Prosecutors said that being left restrained and prone killed him.

“In April 2022, Herman Jr. and Gladys Whitfield reached out for help, hoping that the police would protect their son in a moment of desperate need and the result of what ensued was an absolute tragedy,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement after the not guilty verdicts.

The autopsy listed Whitfield’s cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdual, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use” with morbid obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as contributing factors. His death was ruled a homicide.

Ahmad and Sanchez were indicted in 2023 on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and battery.

John Kautzman, a defense attorney for the officers, said Friday that Whitfield’s death was a tragedy, but that the evidence showed the officers did their best under difficult circumstances and did not commit any crime.

“Nobody, especially sworn police officers, are in the business of going out and harming people,” Kautzman said. “They’re in the business of going out and trying to help people — and that’s what they were trying to do that day.”

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey in a statement Friday extended his condolences to the Whitfield family, and said “his death was a devastating loss.”

Ahmad and Sanchez were placed on leave after the incident but will return to regular duty after refresher training, which Bailey said was standard procedure.

“Cases like this are deeply difficult, and there are no true winners,” Bailey wrote.

On the morning of the incident, Whitfield, who police said was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 280 pounds, was handcuffed, according to authorities.

When medics, who were waiting outside the home, were asked to enter, they asked Whitfield to roll over and he was unresponsive, police have said. The handcuffs were removed, CPR was begun, and Whitfield was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the police department.

During the trial’s closing arguments, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Janna Skelton said that the officers’ chose to handcuff him on the floor and leave him in a prone position, which caused his death, NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis reported.

Defense attorneys argued that the handcuffing was legitimate, that Whitfield’s heart stopped prior to the conclusion of the restraints being applied, and that the officers were doing their jobs, the station reported.

Whitfield’s death occurred almost two years after George Floyd’s May 2020 murder in Minneapolis when an officer kneeled on his neck, prompting some police departments across the country to re-evaluate or reinforce procedures for the restraint of those in custody.

Mears, the prosecutor, said his thoughts were with the Whitfield family.

“While heartbroken for the Whitfield family, I want to recognize the jurors for their consideration of the testimony and evidence over the past five days,” Mears said.

An attorney reported to represent the Whitfield family did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

“He’s a wonderful young man,” Whitfield’s father, Herman Whitfield Jr., told reporters at the time the officers were indicted, according to video from WTHR.

“And he didn’t do anything to be killed,” Gladys Whitfield said then.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel