By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
CORONER’S Court jurors have ruled that police committed homicide by manslaughter when they killed Valentino Johnson, 42, after a car chase on Seven Hill Road last year.
Police claimed the deceased brandished a weapon at them before a high-speed chase that ended with Johnson’s death on April 16, 2023.
Inquests do not determine criminal liability, but the adverse finding will prompt Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Cordell Frazier to consider whether to charge police constable Samuel Ferguson and a former officer, Shando King, with a crime.
Neither officer was present during the inquest.
This is the second consecutive inquest to have an adverse finding against police and the fourth this year to return a homicide by manslaughter finding. The other six cases returned justifiable homicide findings.
Johnson’s family was visibly moved after the finding was revealed.
One relative expressed relief and called on police to crack down on bad operators. The relative said the outcome restored their confidence in the judicial system.
King was dismissed from the police force after he was charged with four counts of attempted murder in February.
In summing up the case, acting Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux gave jurors only two options. She said if they found the evidence showed police were justified in their actions, return with a finding of justifiable homicide. She said if they found the evidence showed the officers were not justified in their actions, they should return with a finding of homicide by manslaughter. She did not discuss the possibility of them returning an unjustified killing finding.
Before the finding was revealed, ballistic officer Corporal Fox confirmed that King’s weapon killed Johnson.
Under questioning from evidence marshal Angelo Whitfield, Cpl Fox elaborated that the ballistic report showed that bullets from King’s gun were recovered from the deceased’s body and car.
Body camera footage aired previously in court showed King laughing as he approached the deceased’s crashed car on a vacant residence. The former officer also cursed and lamented having to turn on his camera.
The footage only showed the aftermath of the police chase.
Ryszard Humes represented the deceased’s estate.
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