Latest news with #Rhinewalt
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Two Mississippi Capitol cops indicted for manslaughter after shooting of Black man during traffic stop
Two Mississippi Capitol Police officers have been indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with the 2022 fatal shooting of 25-year-old Jaylen Lewis. Stephen Frederick Jr., a former Mississippi Capitol Police officer, and Michael Rhinewalt, an officer who is on unpaid administrative leave, were indicted by a grand jury in Hinds County last month. The men opened fire on Lewis while conducting a traffic stop on September 25, 2022. Details of the encounter are murky as the incident report contained redactions, but Lewis's death certificate determined he was shot in the head. Though Frederick and Rhinewalt said they responded with gunfire in self-defense, the grand jury concluded it was 'not a reasonable belief under the circumstances,' according to a copy of the indictment obtained by NBC News. Lewis was the father of a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. The Independent has asked the Hinds County District Attorney for a copy of the indictment. The Capitol Police are a unit of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Their primary responsibility is to protect life and property in the boundaries of the Capitol Complex. However, in 2022, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves deployed a new task force to combat crime in the state's capital. Rhinewalt, Frederick and other members of the Capitol Police unit were conducting a drug narcotics operation the night of the shooting. The officers saw a white Jeep Grand Cherokee run a red light and opened fire after they tried to pull the vehicle over, according to NBC News. Lewis's mother, Arkela Lewis, has previously said her son was followed by a white officer in an unmarked car when one of the officers shot him in the head during the traffic stop. Upon hearing the news of the indictment, Arkela Lewis said, 'I could jump for joy,' according to Mississippi Today. Rhinewalt was previously indicted in January, alongside former officer Jeffrey Walker, on two counts of aggravated assault. The two are accused of using excessive force on a woman while conducting a traffic stop in 2022. The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Mississippi officers charged in young father's shooting death
Two Mississippi Capitol Police officers have been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a young father during a 2022 traffic stop, part of a string of shootings by officers in an aggressive push to stamp out spiking crime in Jackson. A grand jury in Hinds County indicted the officers, Michael Rhinewalt and Stephen Frederick, last month. Rhinewalt is on unpaid administrative leave; Frederick resigned from the Capitol Police in March 2023 after a drunken driving arrest. Rhinewalt was arrested last week and released on $100,000 bond; his indictment was unsealed Monday. His defense lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. Frederick has not yet been arrested, and it is not clear when or whether he would surrender to authorities, nor was it clear whether he had an attorney who could speak about the charges. After he left the Capitol Police, Frederick went to work for the Scott County Sheriff's Office; it was unclear Tuesday whether he remained employed there. The Capitol Police are a state-run force that had been largely responsible for security at state government buildings until 2022, when the governor deployed officers to help with spiking crime. The charges Tuesday are the third case in which a current or former officer has been accused of wrongdoing during that effort. Rhinewalt and Frederick have been charged with shooting Jaylen Lewis, 25, during what authorities said at the time was 'a police response to a traffic violation.' Lewis' mother has long maintained that officers wrongly shot her son and has sought justice since the shooting. Rhinewalt, Frederick and other members of the Capitol Police's crime suppression unit, called Flex, were conducting a drug narcotics operation around 9 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2022, and saw a white Jeep Grand Cherokee run a red light, according to an incident report provided in response to a public records request. The officers opened fire after they tried to pull over the Jeep, but details of the encounter were redacted from the report at the time. A death certificate later confirmed that Lewis, the father of a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, had been shot in the head. Rhinewalt and Frederick said they fired on Lewis in self-defense, according to the indictment, but the grand jury concluded it "was not a reasonable belief under the circumstances."Lewis was one of four people Capitol Police shot in the first six months of their 2022 deployment to Jackson. The victims included Sherita Harris, a mother of five who was struck in the head while she was riding in a car that Rhinewalt and another officer, Jeffery Walker, fired on during a chase on Aug. 14, 2022. Rhinewalt and Walker were indicted in December on aggravated assault charges in that shooting. A federal grand jury also indicted Walker, who left the Capitol Police in July 2023, in December on civil rights charges alleging he beat a motorist after a 2022 pursuit. Rhinewalt and Walker have pleaded not guilty in those cases. In another shooting by Capitol Police, Latasha Smith was struck in the arm in her apartment on Dec. 11, 2022, as police opened fire on a suspected car thief outside. State authorities have deemed the shooting justified. In the wake of the barrage, NBC News found that the Capitol Police had deployed the officers to Jackson without modernizing policies to reflect their new mission. In 2023, the agency quietly revised its rules on use of force. It also now equips officers with body cameras and dashboard cameras. But the Capitol Police have also amassed more power, broadening their jurisdiction to the entire city, from beyond a district surrounding downtown Jackson. Most elected leaders in the Democratic-run city opposed the measure, but state Republicans made it law. This article was originally published on
NBC News
15-04-2025
- NBC News
Mississippi officers charged in young father's shooting death
Two Mississippi Capitol Police officers have been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a young father during a 2022 traffic stop, part of a string of shootings by officers in an aggressive push to stamp out spiking crime in Jackson. A grand jury in Hinds County indicted the officers, Michael Rhinewalt and Stephen Frederick, last month. Rhinewalt is on unpaid administrative leave; Frederick resigned from the Capitol Police in March 2023 after a drunk en driving arrest. Rhinewalt was arrested last week and released on $100,000 bond; his indictment was unsealed Monday. His defense lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. Frederick has not yet been arrested, and it is not clear when or whether he would surrender to authorities, nor was it clear whether he had an attorney who could speak about the charges. After he left the Capitol Police, Frederick went to work for the Scott County Sheriff's Office; it was unclear Tuesday whether he remained employed there. The Capitol Police are a state-run force that had been largely responsible for security at state government buildings until 2022, when the governor deployed officers to help with spiking crime. The charges Tuesday are the third case in which a current or former officer has been accused of wrongdoing during that effort. Rhinewalt and Frederick have been charged with shooting Jaylen Lewis, 25, during what authorities said at the time was 'a police response to a traffic violation.' Lewis' mother has long maintained that officers wrongly shot her son and has sought justice since the shooting. Rhinewalt, Frederick and other members of the Capitol Police's crime suppression unit, called Flex, were conducting a drug narcotics operation around 9 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2022, and saw a white Jeep Grand Cherokee run a red light, according to an incident report provided in response to a public records request. The officers opened fire after they tried to pull over the Jeep, but details of the encounter were redacted from the report at the time. A death certificate later confirmed that Lewis, the father of a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, had been shot in the head. Rhinewalt and Frederick said they fired on Lewis in self-defense, according to the indictment, but the grand jury concluded it "was not a reasonable belief under the circumstances." Lewis was one of four people Capitol Police shot in the first six months of their 2022 deployment to Jackson. The victims included Sherita Harris, a mother of five who was struck in the head while she was riding in a car that Rhinewalt and another officer, Jeffery Walker, fired on during a chase on Aug. 14, 2022. Rhinewalt and Walker were indicted in December on aggravated assault charges in that shooting. A federal grand jury also indicted Walker, who left the Capitol Police in July 2023, in December on civil rights charges alleging he beat a motorist after a 2022 pursuit. Rhinewalt and Walker have pleaded not guilty in those cases. In another shooting by Capitol Police, Latasha Smith was struck in the arm in her apartment on Dec. 11, 2022, as police opened fire on a suspected car thief outside. State authorities have deemed the shooting justified. In the wake of the barrage, NBC News found that the Capitol Police had deployed the officers to Jackson without modernizing policies to reflect their new mission. In 2023, the agency quietly revised its rules on use of force. It also now equips officers with body cameras and dashboard cameras. But the Capitol Police have also amassed more power, broadening their jurisdiction to the entire city, from beyond a district surrounding downtown Jackson. Most elected leaders in the Democratic-run city opposed the measure, but state Republicans made it law.
