Fired officer faces murder charge in black teen's death
Balch Springs cop fired into car leaving party, killing 15-year-old boy.
A white Texas police DALLAS — officer has been charged with murder in the shooting of a black teenager for which the officer was fired, according to an arrest warrant issued Friday.
The warrant for Roy Oliver, a former officer in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, was issued by the Dallas County sheriff ’s office for the April 29 shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. In a statement it released announcing the warrant, the sheriff ’s office cited evidence that suggested Oliver “intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death.”
Oliver fired a rifle at a carful of teenagers leaving a party, striking and killing Edwards. The shooting led to protests calling for Oliver to be charged. About 200 people attended a vigil Thursday night in Balch Springs.
The warrant stated that any peace officer could arrest Oliver, and that Oliver could also turn himself in to authorities. Meanwhile, sheriff ’s spokeswoman Melinda Urbina said, the investigation into the shooting continues.
Oliver’s attorney, Cindy Stormer, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
Edwards and his two brothers and two other teenagers were driving away from an unruly house party late Saturday night when Oliver opened fire. Oliver was
fired Tuesday for violating department policies.
It took a few moments for Edwards’ 16-year-old brother, who was driving, and other passengers to notice that Edwards was slumped over in his seat.
Personnel records show that Oliver was briefly suspended in 2013 following a complaint by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office about his conduct while serving as a witness in a drunken-driving case. Oliver also was ordered to take training courses in anger management and courtroom demeanor and testimony.
The records included periodic evaluations that noted at least one instance when Oliver was reprimanded for being “disrespectful to a civilian on a call.” That evaluation, dated Jan. 27, called the reprimand an isolated incident and urged Oliver to be mindful of his leadership role in the department.
The complaint from the prosecutor’s office said the office had a hard time getting Oliver to attend the trial. He was angry that he had to be there, used vulgar language that caused an assistant district attorney to send a female intern out of the room and used profanity during his testimony, it said.
“In an email from one of the prosecutors he states you were a ‘scary person to have in our workroom,’” thenBalch Springs Police Chief Ed Morris wrote in the suspension findings.
Oliver joined the Balch Springs department in 2011 after almost a year as an officer with the police department in Dalworthington Gardens, another Dallas suburb. He also worked intermittently as a Dalworthington Gardens dispatcher and public works employee between 1999 and 2004, officials there said in a statement.
He received an award for “meritorious conduct” as a dispatcher, and there were no documented complaints or disciplinary actions in connection with either his work as a public safety officer or dispatcher, according to the statement. Between his employment as a dispatcher and as officer in Dalworthington Gardens, Oliver was in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of sergeant while serving two tours in Iraq and earning various commendations. He served two years in the Texas National Guard reserves through 2012.