A Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an unarmed 11-year-old boy after the child called 911 to end a domestic dispute will not face charges.
A grand jury found that Indianola Police Sgt. Greg Capers did not plead guilty to criminal conduct when he shot Aderrien Murry in the chest on May 20 while responding to a domestic dispute.
Murry was hospitalized for five days with a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver and broken ribs as a result of the gunshot wound to his chest.
The Mississippi attorney general's office, which presented the case to a Sunflower County grand jury, announced the decision last week.
In a statement, Murry's attorney Carlos Moore said the family would seek accountability through a $5 million federal civil lawsuit.
A grand jury found that Indianola Police Sgt. Greg Capers (pictured right) did not engage in criminal conduct when he shot Aderrien Murry (pictured left) in the chest on May 20 while responding to a domestic dispute
Aderrien said the bullet “felt like a Taser, like a big hit in the chest” and believed he would die
“Although the grand jury has spoken, we firmly believe that there are unanswered questions and that the shooting of Aderrien Murry was not justified,” Moore said.
“We are committed to seeking justice for Aderrien and his family.”
Reached by phone Thursday, Capers' attorney Michael Carr said the officer had suffered personally and financially in the case and that the grand jury made the right decision.
'Sgt. Capers is relieved with the outcome, and he is pleased that the residents of Sunflower County achieved the fair and just outcome,” Carr said.
“He looks forward to continuing to serve the citizens of Sunflower County and the city of Indianola.”
Indianola Board of Aldermen voted in June to place Capers on unpaid administrative leave.
Capers, who was named the top officer in Indianola in 2021, cannot return to work and get paid unless the council decides to place him on leave, Carr said.
Indianola is a city of about 9,300 residents in the rural Mississippi Delta, about 95 miles northwest of Jackson.
In a statement, Murry's attorney Carlos Moore said the family would seek accountability through a federal civil lawsuit
Aderrien Murry was awakened around 4 a.m. on May 20 by the sound of his mother's ex-boyfriend – the father of one of Murry's siblings – acting threateningly, so she asked him to call the police.
Indianola Police Department officers arrived moments later, Aderrien said he was asked to leave his room.
When he did, he was shot and was lucky to survive.
The boy told Good Morning America that he felt “a big hit” when he was shot.
He said he started singing gospel songs to support himself as he staggered to the door.
“I came out with this,” he said with his arms raised during an interview with ABC news.
'It felt like a taser, like a big blow to the chest.
Aderrien Murry, 11, described the moment he was shot in the chest by Mississippi police after calling 911 during an interview with ABC News
Aderrien Murry was woken at around 4am on May 20 by the sound of his mother's ex-boyfriend behaving threateningly outside the house (pictured), so he was asked to call the police
'I was bleeding, bleeding from my mouth.
“Then I just remembered I was singing a song.”
When asked what song he sang, Aderrien said, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” – referencing the Bible verse Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
His mother, Nakala Murry, has called for Capers to be charged and fired.
She described giving her son the phone and asking him to call his grandmother after she woke up, heard a knock on the window and saw her ex-boyfriend standing outside.
'I noticed he was a little angry. And having dealt with him in the past, I know the angry version of him, where this could lead,” she says told Good Morning America.
Aderrien called 911 and his grandmother, who in turn also called 911.
Nakala claimed that when the officer arrived, he “pulled his gun at the front door and asked the people in the house to come out.”
This undated image, courtesy of attorney Carlos Moore, shows Aderrien Murry, 11, with the family attorney
Capers, named the top officer in Indianola in 2021, cannot return to work and get paid unless the council decides to place him on leave, Carr said.
She added, “One time he was like, come out with your hands up, and that's when my son came out.”
She also recounted the moment she placed her hand on her son's wound to apply pressure as he “sang gospel songs and prayed as he bled.”
“He said, 'I don't want to die' – that's what he said,” she said.
“I said, 'You're not going to die, baby, you're not going to die, just keep talking.'”
She previously said the officer who fired the gun also tried to help by placing his hand on hers in an attempt to stop Aderrien's bleeding.
With the grand jury's decision, the attorney general's office said no further state-level criminal action would be taken against Capers.