Police officer who shot dead Pamela Turner in 2019 acquitted

Baytown police officer Juan Delacruz was acquitted of murder charges on Tuesday. Pamela Turner 2019.

after spending 5 days trial After deliberating several hours over two days, a Harris County jury found Dela Cruz not guilty of one count of first degree aggravated assault by a public official.

Three years ago, Hispanic de la Cruz shot Down Turner, a 44-year-old black woman in an apartment complex while trying to arrest her for an unpaid warrant. Bystander cell phone footage captured part of the incident and was circulated online. A 30-second clip shows Turner resisting her arrest and wrestling with Dela Cruz. Dela Cruz pulled out a taser and shot it at Turner. Turner continued to resist and she allegedly grabbed a taser. Delacruz retreats and fires five bullets.

Turner’s family claims Turner was on the verge of mental health as he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Prosecutors said there was no need to open fire. They claimed that Delacruz knew Turner was suffering from mental illness because the two were neighbors living in the same apartment complex.

Prosecutor Timothy Adams told jurors, “She wasn’t perfect. We didn’t try to hide that from you today.” It didn’t deserve to die on the sidewalk far away.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the Turner family, also represented the families of many of the victims killed by police, including George Floyd, Almaud Arbery, and Dante Wright.

Crump said that not only was Turner’s shooting “unjustified,” but her case had even greater implications.

“The reason this trial is so important is that if the jury finds Dela Cruz guilty, it will be the first time in American history that a police officer has been convicted of murdering a black woman,” Crump said ahead of the trial. Stated.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said jurors were prevented from hearing evidence related to Turner and de la Cruz’s past encounters by a judge, according to a local NBC News affiliate.

Ogg said, “It’s hard to hear justice when jurors can’t receive all the evidence.”

One of Delacruz’s attorneys, Greg Cagle, claimed Turner shot him in self-defense after he used a stun gun against him, claiming he feared for his life.

“Pamela Turner made the decision to evade arrest, resist arrest, take weapons from police officers, not only take them away, but use them against him,” he told jurors. rice field.

It is not yet clear whether Dela Cruz was actually tasted, as the moment was not captured by his body camera or bystander footage.

The Veteran Officer has been with the Baytown Police Department since 2008. He was not reprimanded after the shooting and was on paid administrative leave as he awaited trial.

Delacruz was facing five years in prison, up to life in prison.

Turner’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officer, pending in the City of Baytown.