Chicago police officers won't be charged in 2021 shooting deaths of Adam Toledo or Anthony Alvarez

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago police officers who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in separate foot chases just days apart last March won't face any criminal charges, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced Tuesday.

Foxx said neither her office nor an appellate prosecutor's office could find enough evidence to support criminal charges in the two cases. She also said while officers in both cases might have violated Chicago Police Department foot pursuit policies during the two incidents, there is not sufficient evidence that they committed a crime, noting that in both cases, the officers reasonably feared for their lives.

"When we look at these cases, we must now also look at the law as it applies. Under Illinois law, an officer is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm when he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or to other such persons," she said. "Police officers are often forced to make split-second judgements in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving."

Adam Toledo was shot and killed by Officer Eric Stillman after a foot chase in an alley near 24th Street and Sawyer Avenue in Little Village on March 29, 2021, less than a second — to be precise, 838 milliseconds — after Toledo dropped a gun he had been carrying.

Video footage released weeks after the shooting shows Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman standing on a street corner when several shots were fired early on the morning of March 29. Both then ran past a church and into a nearby alley. Body camera footage shows an officer chasing Toledo down the alley, telling the boy to show the officer his hands.

"Stop! Stop right f***ing now! Hands! Show me your f***ing hands!" the officer is heard saying.

Adam can then be seen stopping near a gap in the fence in the alley, with both hands at his side, his left shoulder facing the officer. When the video is slowed down, a frame of the footage does appear to show a gun in Adam's hand just before he raises his arms and the officer opens fire. Surveillance video of the same moment from a different angle appears to show Adam with his right arm behind the fence, possibly making a throwing motion, and then turning back toward the officer. However, at the moment when the officer opens fire, the body camera video shows Adam has his hands up, and they appear to be empty.

Foxx cited that surveillance video footage when describing the decision not to charge Stillman with a crime.

"Officer Stillman believed that Adam had a gun. After running nearly a full block in the alley, Officer Stillman saw a handgun in Adam's right hand, and shouted for him to drop it. Before dropping the weapon, Adam began turning his body towards Officer Stillman, with his left hand raised up in front of his body, and his right hand lowered to his side, behind the wooden fencepost. Officer Stillman saw the weapon in Adam Toledo's right hand, as Adam was stopped near the wooden fence, and began turning towards Officer Stillman," Foxx said. 

Foxx noted that less than one second passed from the time Toledo began turning towards the officer and raising his hand, and the moment Stillman shot him.

"Based on the facts, the evidence, and the law, we have concluded that there was no evidence to prove that Officer Stillman acted with criminal intent. Officer Stillman fired only one shot. Officer Stillman explained that, after he fired the one time, he saw Adam's right hand was empty. He assessed the situation, and did not fire again, because he believed the threat no longer existed," she said. "Officer Stillman reacted to the perceived threat presented by Adam Toledo, who he believed at the time was turning toward him to shoot him. After the single shot was fired, and Officer Stillman recognized that Adam Toledo was no longer a threat, he immediately rendered aid, and continued to do so until the assisting officers and the paramedics arrived."

Anthony Alvarez was shot and killed two days after Toledo was. Alvarez was shot by Officer Evan Solano while holding a gun in his right hand as he was running away from Solano and his partner on March 31, 2021. 

Surveillance video from the night of the shooting, which happened in the early-morning hours on Wednesday, March 31 - shows a squad car chasing Alvarez at a gas station in Portage Park.

Officer Solano's body camera shows him running down an alley and eventually around a corner onto a front lawn near Laramie Avenue and Eddy Street. Alvarez's back was facing the officer at the moment he was shot, but a gun was visible in his right hand, moving from right to left. Solano shot him in the back and knee.

"As officer Solano rounded the corner, and observed Mr. Alvarez in a crouching position with a gun in his hand, and also observed Mr. Alvarez looking back at him while running with the gun in his hand, he thought Mr. Alvarez was turning to shoot toward him and his partner, who he believed was behind him," Foxx said. "Officer Solano then fired five successive shots in the span of one second, as he veered to the left to avoid any shots fired by Mr. Alvarez, and he stopped once he no longer saw the gun in Mr. Alvarez's hand." 

Solano was stripped of his police powers three months after the shooting. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability completed its investigation of the shooting in January, and has presented its findings to Police Supt. David Brown to determine if he will pursue any disciplinary action against Solano before the full report is released.

Both fatal shootings prompted protests over police use of force, and calls for the police to halt foot pursuits altogether until the department completely overhauls its foot chase policy. According to the Chicago Police Department, Officer Solano is relived of his police powers. Officer Stillman is still active on the force.

Foxx said she spoke with both Toledo's and Alvarez's families before announcing she would not be pursuing criminal charges against the officers involved in the shootings, and both families were "heartbroken."

"The grief on their mothers' and their fathers' and family members' faces was almost unbearable. To lose a child is beyond what any of us would want to imagine. To lose a child at the hands of law enforcement was unfathomable for them. And recognizing that we must be bound by the facts, the evidence, and the law; and that it was profoundly disappointing that, here in the criminal courts, to them, there was no accountability, we must be guided as always by the principles of just prosecution, and that is what these decisions reflect today," she said.

In a statement, the Toledo family's attorneys said they are "profoundly disappointed" Foxx declined to prosecute Stillman.

"Despite that decision, we will continue fighting for Adam and have filed our civil complaint seeking monetary damages against Officer Stillman and the City of Chicago in our effort to get justice for Adam and the Toledo family. Officer Stillman's use of deadly force was excessive and posed a threat to the safety of Adam and others. We will be contacting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to address this horrific travesty," attorneys Adeena Weiss Ortiz of Weiss Ortiz and Joel Hirschhorn of Gray Robinson said in a statement. "Adam obeyed the police officer's commands, stopped running, had his hands up in the surrender position, and was nevertheless shot and killed by Officer Stillman. Despite the painful loss of Adam, the Toledo family continues to call for peace on the streets of Chicago as they pursue justice through the court system."

While Foxx said the evidence in both cases supports both officers' claims they feared for their lives, she also said she has "deep, deep concerns" about the Chicago Police Department's foot pursuit policy after her review of the two cases, and believes the department needs to make sure its policy protects the safety of both officers and civilians.

"We have to ask ourselves, was this worth the effort?" she said. "I think the deaths that we have seen, and the risks to our officers absolutely necessitates that we have a foot pursuit policy that keeps everyone safe."

Foxx said the chase of Alvarez was particularly worrisome, because it ultimately stemmed from a traffic stop the night before. Alvarez had fled a traffic stop the night before the shooting. She argued there was no need for officers to begin chasing Alvarez the night of the shooting, given that he was not committing a crime at the time, and they knew his home address if they needed to question him about the traffic stop the night before. Foxx said Officer Solano also made tactical mistakes during the chase itself.

"While the evidence is insufficient to support criminal charges, it is important to highlight that the officers themselves created the conditions which the use of deadly force became necessary," she said. "It was unnecessary for officers to stop and engage Mr. Alvarez, who was walking through a gas station parking lot, holding food and drink. He was not committing any crimes that were readily apparent to officers at the time."

"This began because they said that they were unable to apprehend him as a result of a traffic stop. A traffic stop the night before. This incident happened the following day, while Mr. Alvarez was on foot. He wasn't in the car, and the manner in which Mr. Alvarez was pursued in relation to a traffic stop; the foot pursuit was unnecessary, and it will be determined by COPA whether it was in violation of Chicago police policy," she added. "But it was the escalation of events that get us to our final conclusion, and it is the sincere hope that we have de-escalating measures, such that we are not putting the officer or the public at risk."

While CPD implemented a temporary foot pursuit policy last summer, the department later delayed full implementation of a new foot chase policy, citing the need for further review, and a newly revised policy was unveiled last month. After allowing for two weeks of public comment, CPD is now analyzing feedback before finalizing the policy.  

Foxx said it will ultimately be up to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to determine if the officers in the two shootings violated department policy, but she noted that filing criminal charges has a much higher burden of proof than filing disciplinary charges.

In Little Village, community activists were disappointed and furious about the decisions.

"They literally murdered these two individuals, and it's a shame Kim Foxx is not pursuing criminal charges against them," said Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council.

Enriquez led protests in the days following the shooting that killed Toledo, and pushed for the release of the officer's body cam video.

"It's s like we got shot again, and this time by Kim Foxx's office," Enriquez said. "We're very upset. The community is super upset. This officer, Eric Stillman, should be charged with a minimum of manslaughter."

Mayor Lori Lightfoot released the following statement regarding the decision:

Every shooting death in our city, every loss of life, is a tragedy. The loss of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez remains tragic and painful for their families, loved ones, and friends. We must continue to support the families of Adam Toledo, Anthony Alvarez, and their respective communities as they continue to grieve. 

Keeping their communities, as well as the rest of Chicago safe, remains the top priority for me and my administration. However, in order to accomplish this, trust must be a two-way street between our residents and our officers. This trust is vital to their safety and the safety of entire communities. 

Following today's announcement by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office regarding their Office's evaluation of criminal charges related to the shooting deaths of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez, that work to build that trust continues, in partnership with the Chicago Office for Police Accountability and our Chicago Police Department. 

As part of our commitment to reform, over the past year, we have implemented a new foot pursuit policy and have begun working alongside community partners and the City Council to create the new civilian police oversight body. But there remains much more to do."