NYPD Officer To Face Department Trial In Shooting That Killed Bronx Teen Ramarley Graham
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager in the Bronx in 2012 will face a department trial that could result in his termination, police said Thursday.
An NYPD representative said Thursday that following an internal disciplinary case stemming from the shooting that killed Ramarley Graham, 18, Officer Richard Haste will face a department trial.
The trial could result Haste being fired, police said. He is currently on modified duty.
Graham was shot in the bathroom of his Bronx home by the officer, who had barged inside during a drug investigation in February 2012.
Prosecutors have said police first encountered Graham when they spotted him and two other people walking into a Bronx bodega on the afternoon of Feb. 2, and then immediately walking out. The officers, who were conducting a street narcotics investigation, said they saw Graham adjusting his waistband and told fellow officers they believed he had a gun.
Police followed him to his Bronx home. Haste made his way into the home, forced his way into a bathroom and shot Graham once.
Graham's family was not impressed with the announcement of the department trial – noting that no date has been given.
"This seems like more of a political announcement than real news about accountability, and I'm tired of Mayor (Bill) de Blasio and others playing politics with the NYPD's killing of my son. Haste should face a trial on a number of charges and be fired for all of his misconduct, but the NYPD has given no date for the trial, timeline or even list of charges that he's facing," Graham's mother, Constance Malcolm, said in a statement.
Graham's mother noted that the other officers involved in the incident were not mentioned.
In March, federal prosecutors declined to file civil rights charges against Haste. The officer said he thought Graham was reaching for a gun, but no weapon was ever found. Haste's lawyer has said there were "never any winners in this case.''
