There will be no criminal charges against a Chicago Police officer who fatally shot 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones in 2015, the Cook County State’s Attorney announced Friday.
The announcement comes more than a year after Officer Robert Rialmo opened fire on LeGrier, whom he claimed was swinging a baseball bat at him, and Jones also was struck by bullets from his gun, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Rialmo accidentally struck LeGrier’s neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones, who had opened the door for police and was standing behind LeGrier when Rialmo opened fire.
Prosecutors said there was no basis for a criminal charge, a press release issued Friday said.
“The Office of the Cook County State’s Attorney has reviewed the investigation surrounding the shooting deaths of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones on December 26, 2015 by Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo,” the release states.
“The Office reviewed the evidence collected during the investigation to determine whether there was a basis for filing criminal charges. After thorough review, the Office of the Cook County State’s Attorney has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Rialmo did not act in self-defense in shooting LeGrier and Jones.”
Rialmo, who has sued the Chicago Police department, as well as Jones and LeGrier’s family, has said in court records that before he opened fire, LeGrier swung a baseball bat at him in the foyer of the apartment building where LeGrier and Jones lived.
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Rialmo said police dispatchers did not make him aware that LeGrier might have been in the throes of a mental health crisis when Rialmo and his partner were sent to the building, and that the department did not provide him with adequate training or equipment to deal with mentally ill suspects.
The shooting on Dec. 26, 2015, was the first fatal shooting by a CPD officer to come after the release of video of a CPD officer gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, images that spurred protests across the city and a wave of reforms.
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who was campaigning to unseat incumbent Anita Alvarez in the 2016 primary election, had lambasted Alvarez’s handling of the McDonald investigation. But Foxx has recused herself from Rialmo’s case and was not involved in the decision to bring charges against Rialmo, because Jones’ family is represented by Foxx’s former law firm, according to the statement.
