Ex-cop faces murder rap in shooting death of teen
DALLAS — A fired Dallas-area police officer was charged with murder Friday in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old as he left a weekend party.
The Balch Springs officer, Roy Oliver, turned himself into authorities and was freed on $300,000 bond. Murder is punishable by up to life in prison.
Oliver, 37, fired a rifle into a car full of teenagers as they drove away from a part y on April 29, striking Jordan Edwards, a high school freshman, in the head.
Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said he fired the six-year veteran of the department for violating policies, though he has not provided specifics.
Oliver was the second of two officers who responded t o a r e p o r t o f u n d e r a ge drinking the night Jordan was killed. After gunfire was heard in the area, the 15-yearold and four other teenagers got into their car to leave.
Originally, police had said Oliver fired on the vehicle because it was backing up ag gre ssively toward him and the other officer. But the department revised its a c c o u n t a f t e r re v i e wi n g body-cam video, saying the car was driving away when Oliver fired.
The white officer’s shooting of an unarmed black teenager has renewed allegations nationwide that racial bias among police has led to deadly overreactions. An attorney for Jordan’s family, Lee Merritt, said Jordan’s parents were “grateful” the investigators sought a murder charge.
“It’s a big deal. I think it begins to at least give the appearance that the state is not going to sweep this clear wrong under the rug as it’s done in the past,” Merritt said. “However, we also have to learn from history that we don’t have a conviction yet. ”
Jordan was a straight-A student and a standout athlete who was beloved by his schoolmates at Mesquite High School. He played on the freshman football team and was sto begin playing defensive back this spring.
Head football coach Jeff Fleener said he was “crushed and heartbroken” when he found out Jordan had been killed.
“The be s t t hi ng i n t he world or the worst thing in the world would happen, and he’d smile, and everything would be OK,” the coach said. “You create a checklist of everything you would want in a player, a son, a teammate, a friend, and Jordan had all that.”
Oliver and a second officer, both wearing body cameras, went into the house where the party was being held. They were talking to the host when they heard what sounded like gunshots.
Both went outside to see what was going on and saw s e v e r a l p e o p l e r u n n i n g toward a nearby intersection. The second officer walked toward the area where he thought the shots has been f i re d. Olive r went to t he patrol car and got his rifle.
The second officer tried to stop a black Chevrolet Impala at the intersection. The car slowly reversed and the second officer pulled his gun and walked toward the passenger side of the car.
As the car started to drive forward, the officer used his gun to break the rear passenger window. That’s when Oliver got behind the officer and fired several rounds into the car as it drove past him.
C ount r y music le gend Loretta Lynn was hospitalized after having a stroke, her publicist said Friday. Maria Malta, a publicist for Sony Music, confirmed that the 85-year-old singer and songwriter was admitted to a Nashville hospital Thursday night after suffering the stroke at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Lynn’s website said she was responsive and expected to make a full recovery.
T h e I n t e r i o r D e p a r t - ment on Friday identified 27 national monuments, mostly in Western states, that it is reviewing for possible changes to the protections created by Republican and Democratic presidents over the past two decades. President Donald Trump ordered the review last month, saying protections imposed by his three immediate predecessors amounted to “a massive federal land grab.” The list includes 2 Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante i n Ut a h, Nevada’s Bas i n and Range and Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine. The review also targets five marine monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including a huge reserve in Hawaii established in 2006 by President George W. Bush.