DA to review new details in 2015 fatal police shooting

A cryptic Thursday afternoon press release from Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy hinted new information has come to light in the fatal 2015 shooting by Memphis police of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart.

“Earlier today, DA Mulroy and attorneys from our office met with Darrius Stewart’s father, Henry Williams, and his attorney. During our meeting, the attorney informed us that there was information that we may have not been privy to that was uncovered during the civil investigation,” the release said.

Mulroy’s office will review the unspecified information, the release said. It’s unclear how new the information is, what it is, and whether former District Attorney

General Amy Weirich’s office was aware of it. Mulroy’s office declined to provide further details. Stewart was killed during a confrontation with former Memphis police officer Connor Schilling in July 2015. Weirich recommended indicting Schilling on two charges, voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

After reviewing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the shooting, a Shelby County grand jury declined to indict Schilling on either charge.

The shooting spurred demonstrations and bolstered the case for funding police-worn body cameras.

Stewart’s mother, Mary Stewart, filed a wrongful death suit in federal civil court in 2020. That filing came after a series of decisions by federal judges that removed both the City of Memphis and former Memphis police director Toney Armstrong from an earlier suit.