Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez Charged In the Killing of Philando Castile

By Aimée Lutkin  |  November 16, 2016 | 6:20pm
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On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was stopped by police in a St. Paul suburb of Minnesota for having a broken tail light. He informed Officer Jeronimo Yanez that he had a gun and a permit to carry it, and was then fatally shot by the officer. The aftermath was live-streamed by his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds.

The Associated Press reports that on Wednesday prosecutors announced they would charge Yanez with second-degree manslaughter in Castile’s death. The Star Tribune reports that Ramsey County Attorney John Choi stated in his announcement that the “use of deadly force by Officer Yanez was not justified.”

Choi believes that the legal standard for a police officer to use deadly force was not met before Yanez fired his weapon, saying it’s not enough “to express subjective fear of death or great bodily harm.”

 
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