Ohio Police Shoot Teen, Charge Girlfriend with his Murder
A Columbus, Ohio, SWAT team shot and killed a 16-year-old during an attempted robbery set up by police, and then charged his 16-year-old girlfriend with murder and robbery simply because she was there.
Police said Julius Tate Jr. offered an item for sale online and when undercover agents set up the buy, he allegedly pulled a gun. Eyewitnesses, however, said that’s not true. "They shot him on the street, then came back to the house and got a gun from the house," attorney Byron Potts said, indicating he has a sworn affidavit from an eyewitness.
When Potts’ witness was made public, police then charged Tate’s girlfriend, Masonique Saunders, with his murder. A police spokesperson said she’s still responsible for the murder even though a cop pulled the trigger. When "police are actually the ones who did the direct killing, we still say the felons were [proximately] causing that death and should be held responsible under this felony murder doctrine."
A couple of days earlier, Columbus SWAT Officer Robert Vass shot and injured 18-year-old Kyler Collier in a similar situation as Tate. This was the fifth police shooting for Officer Vass.
Source: theroot.com
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