Oklahoma prosecutor declines to charge cop in deaf man's killing
OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma prosecutor announced Friday he will not file criminal charges against a police officer in the September shooting death of a deaf man who was not following officer commands.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said his investigation determined the Sept. 19 shooting death of 35-year-old Magdiel Sanchez outside his south Oklahoma City home was justified.
Police have said officers who responded to a hit-and-run crash encountered Sanchez holding a metal pipe. An autopsy report shows Sanchez was hit with a stun gun and shot five times in the chest, pelvis and upper arm.
A neighbor told CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca in September that he and other neighbors were yelling at the officers, telling them that Sanchez was deaf and could not understand them. Julio Rayos also claimed Sanchez used what he called a "stick" as a means of communication, not as a weapon.
The shooting prompted protests from activists from groups including Black Lives Matter Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Association of the Deaf. Family members of Sanchez had called for Barnes' arrest and for state and federal investigations into the matter.
Sanchez's family has said he was completely deaf, developmentally disabled and that he used the pipe as a walking stick. The autopsy found no drugs or alcohol in Sanchez's system. Prater earlier this week charged an Oklahoma City police officer with second-degree murder for fatally shooting a suicidal man in a separate case.
