Chicago jury convicts officer in teen’s killing
CPD video showed suspect with knife being shot 16 times
CHICAGO — A white Chicago police officer was convicted of second-degree murder Friday in the 2014 shooting of a black teenager that was captured on shocking dashcam video that showed him crumpling to the ground in a hail of 16 bullets as he walked away from officers.
The video stoked outrage nationwide, and the high-stakes trial gripped the nation’s third-largest city for nearly three years. The shooting also led to a federal government inquiry and calls to reform the Chicago Police Department.
Jason Van Dyke, 40, was the first Chicago officer to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. He was taken into custody moments after the verdict was read.
The second-degree verdict reflects the jury’s finding that Van Dyke believed his life was in danger but that the belief was unreasonable. The jury also had the option of first degree-murder, a charge that required a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable.
Second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of less than 20 years. Probation is also an option. Van Dyke was also convicted of aggravated battery and acquitted of official misconduct.
The t een, Laquan McDonald, was carrying a knife when Van Dyke fired at him on a dimly lit street where he was surrounded by other officers.
The verdict was the latest chapter in a story that has made headlines since a judge ordered the release of the video in November 2015. The case put the city at the center of the nat i onal debate about police misconduct and excessive force.
The 12-person jury included seven whites, three Hispanics, one AfricanAmerican and one AsianAmerican.
Officers were waiting for someone with a stun gun to use on the teenager when Van Dyke arrived, according to testimony and video. The video showed Van Dyke shooting even after the 17-year-old was lying on the pavement.
Prosecutor Jody Gleason noted during closing arguments that Van Dyke told detectives that McDonald raised the knife, that Van Dyke backpedaled and that McDonald tried to get up off the ground after being Van Dyke Activists and city residents celebrate after learning of the murder conviction Friday. shot.
“None of that happened,” she said. “You’ve seen it on video. He made it up. ”
But defense attorneys portrayed Van Dyke as be- ing “scared” by the young man who he knew had already punctured a tire of a squad car with the knife.
Van Dyke conceded that he stepped toward McDonald and not away from the teen, as he’d first claimed.
But the officer maintained the rest of his account, saying: “The video doesn’t show my perspective.”