Officer Who Shot Philando Castile Charged With Manslaughter

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has charged the officer who shot and killed Philando Castile in July with second-degree manslaughter.

St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Castile at a traffic stop on July 6. The aftermath of the fatal shooting was broadcast on Facebook Live by the passenger in Castile’s vehicle, his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds.

Castile was 32 years old. He was a cafeteria supervisor at JJ Hill Montessori School in St. Paul.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, Choi said that Yanez shot Castile seven times.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said that he spent the last 19 weeks studying the case and decided he would not put it to a grand jury.

“My conscience says it would be wrong to ask a grand jury to make this decision when I know, in my heart, what is right,” Choi said.

Yanez was also charged with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a weapon, endangering Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter, who was in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

Yanez will make first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Related: Timeline Of Events In Philando Castile Case

Castile’s death, along with the deaths of other black Americans at the hands of police officers, let to protests and demonstrations around the country.

Immediately after the shooting, Choi asked the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for a prompt and thorough investigation. He said it would be based on facts and a truthful pursuit of justice.

Officer Yanez briefly returned to work on limited duty in mid-August, but that lasted only a week. The city of St. Anthony said it decided to put him back on administrative leave “after reviewing concerns and other feedback from the community.”