Manslaughter charges are dropped against ex-Tucson cop who shot and killed wheelchair-bound suspect
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A second grand jury in Pima County, Arizona, has decided not to recommend manslaughter charges against a former Tucson police officer who shot a wheelchair-bound suspect nine times in a shopping mall parking lot, killing him.
Ryan Remington, 32, shot Richard Lee Richards, 61, in a city mall parking lot while off duty. Richards pointed a knife at a Walmart employee as he was leaving the store with a stolen toolbox on November 30, 2021.
Richards was heading to a Lowe’s across the parking lot when Remington, who was working Walmart security at the time, ordered Richards to drop the knife and not enter another store.
The suspect ignored the officer before Remington opened fire, causing Richards to fall off his scooter to his death.
On Wednesday, the Pima County Superior Court jury voted against the bill to charge Remington. Despite the grand jury’s decision, the state could still choose to bring charges.
Former Tucson police officer Ryan Remington, 32, has been charged with manslaughter for shooting a wheelchair-bound man accused of shoplifting in 2021 outside a Lowe’s.
Richard Lee-Richards has been confined to a wheelchair since undergoing hip surgery while in prison, his sister Victoria Richards said last year.
Defense attorneys alleged that state prosecutors presented misleading statements to the first grand jury. Pima County Superior Court Judge Danelle Liwski agreed, but she believed she didn’t do it on purpose.
Last month, Liwski granted the defense’s request to send the case back to a grand jury again.
In a statement, Pima County District Attorney Laura Conover said that “victim notification is our focus and highest priority at this time as the matter remains under our review.”
Remington was fired in January 2022 for what police determined was excessive use of force.
A civil rights lawsuit filed by the Richards family against Remington and the city of Tucson remains pending in federal court.
During the robbery, Richards allegedly showed a knife to the store clerk who asked for a receipt for the product.
“Here’s your receipt,” Richard reportedly told the clerk, showing the gun.
“He has a knife in his other hand,” someone can be heard on the body cam video as Richards makes his way to the entrance of the big store.
Seconds later, Remington can be seen unloading his gun on the robber.
Remington catches up with Richards in the parking lot and asks him to hand over the knife, which he refuses.
Remington (left, back turned) told Richards, “Don’t go into the store, sir,” but started shooting when Richards didn’t stop.
After the shooting, Richards collapsed from his chair where an unidentified duty police officer handcuffed Richards while Remington and another officer, Stephanie Taylor, grabbed medical supplies.
During the robbery, Richards allegedly showed a knife to the store clerk who asked for a receipt for the product. “Here’s the receipt from him,” Richard reportedly told the clerk, showing the gun.
Richards has been confined to a wheelchair since undergoing hip surgery while in prison. His sister Victoria Richards told him KGUN. She said her brother had struggled with drug addiction and had been in prison for most of his life.
He volunteered to help fight forest fires while serving time and fell off a cliff, hitting his head.
‘He came out with severe brain damage. He came to live with me and I taught him to drive, to count money. It all came back pretty quickly, but it was like having a child again,” she told the TV news channel in 2021.
She and her brother had an argument and she left him at a Salvation Army center a couple of years before the shooting.
Officer Ryan Remington (pictured holding a gun) was fired from the Tucson Police Department (TPD) in January 2022 for excessive use of force
Richards (left, in a wheelchair) was shot ‘in the back and side’, his family filed a lawsuit against Remington
Rick Resch, an attorney for the Richards family, said in August that they were relieved that the officer was finally brought to trial.
“The last nine months have been long and difficult for the family of Mr. Richards, but they are relieved that former officer Ryan Remington has been charged and faces the prospect of justice for shooting and killing Mr. Richards,” Resch said in a statement. declaration.
In Arizona, manslaughter, a class two felony carrying a minimum of seven years in prison, is defined as ‘recklessly causing the death of another person.’
Remington did not testify before the grand jury to present any self-defense arguments.
“Involuntary manslaughter doesn’t even fit the bill,” said Remington’s attorney, Mike Storie. KVOA. “I don’t want to get into legal arguments, but it is a legal fiction. So I’ll be very interested in reading the grand jury transcript and finding out what happened in that room when I wasn’t there.
Storie has said in the past that his client “had no non-lethal options.”
“He had a taser, but in his mind he couldn’t use it because he didn’t feel it had the proper extension to deploy it, with the wheelchair between him and Richards,” the attorney said.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero praised the charges against the former police officer in August.
“Now that the Grand Jury has returned an indictment and Ryan Remington will face criminal charges, it is a matter for the courts to decide,” he tweeted.
After an internal investigation into the shooting, Remington, a four-year veteran of the department, was fired by then-Police Chief Chris Magnus.
The chief said he was “deeply disturbed and concerned” by the former police officer’s response. “Your use of deadly force on him in this incident is a clear violation of department policy and directly contradicts multiple aspects of our use of force and training,” Magnus said.