On Tuesday, Federal prosecutors decided to close the investigation and end the criminal charges against the New York City police officer accused of shooting Ramarley Graham in 2012.
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said prosecutors found the evidence insufficient to meet the high burden of proof needed for a federal criminal civil rights trial against police officer Richard Haste. His statement concluded the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham, who was shot in the bathroom of his apartment in the Bronx after being followed by NYPD officers.
The police officers who were conducting street narcotics investigations said they saw Graham adjusting his waistband. Fellow officers believed he had a gun so they followed him to his apartment. Bharara said in a statement that officer Haste believed Graham had a firearm and was reaching for it which caused him to fire his weapon. However, The Daily Mail reported that there were no weapons found in the apartment.
The statement of Bharara came shortly after he met with Graham's parents, Frank and Constance Malcolm Graham, who held a press conference together with more than a dozen supporters outside the US attorney's offices after the meeting. Reuters reported that Malcolm called the decision a 'slap in the face', adding that Haste murdered his son.
Frank Graham said they would still be pushing for Haste's termination. The NYPD then said that it would proceed with an internal disciplinary process. Haste's defense attorney, Stuart London, said that his client looks forward to resolving the police department's internal investigation.
According to Gant News, a Bronx Supreme Court dismissed a manslaughter indictment against Haste based on the orders given by the prosecution to the grand jury regarding communications among police officers before the shooting.
In January 2015, New York City agreed to pay Graham's family $3.9 million to resolve a federal lawsuit over the killing.
