On Wednesday, the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace introduced that it’ll not pursue felony fees in opposition to any of the Chicago law enforcement officials concerned within the deadly capturing of Dexter Reed throughout a visitors cease final yr. The workplace stated it introduced the findings of its investigation to a state panel, which subsequently concurred with the choice.
The CCSAO additionally launched the next memorandum explaining its resolution. We’re publishing it right here in full:
POLICE INVOLVED DEATH DECISION MEMORANDUM
DECEDENT: DEXTER REED
I. OVERVIEW
On March 21, 2024, Dexter Reed was fatally shot by Chicago Police Officers Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco and Aubrey Webb. Investigators from a number of companies together with the Civilian Workplace of Police Accountability (COPA), the Chicago Police Division’s Investigative Response Workforce (IRT), and the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace (CCSAO) Bureau of Investigations subsequently interviewed legislation enforcement witnesses, civilian witnesses, hearth division personnel, reviewed radio transmissions, images of the scene, police stories, medical data, the Prepare dinner County Medical Examiner Submit-Mortem Report, Toxicology Report, Illinois State Police Crime Lab Experiences, Physique-Worn Digital camera (BWC) footage and video surveillance footage.
The CCSAO because the company accountable for making felony charging choices below Illinois legislation for incidents that happen in Prepare dinner County, reviewed the proof collected through the investigation to find out whether or not there was a very good religion foundation for submitting felony fees. After a radical evaluate, the CCSAO has concluded that the proof is inadequate to assist felony fees in opposition to these officers.
Pursuant to insurance policies and enacted laws, the CCSAO referred the case to the Workplace of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) for a further impartial evaluate. ILSAAP reviewed the case and concurred that the proof didn’t assist felony fees in opposition to any officer.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
In making any charging resolution, the CCSAO is certain by the Illinois Legal Code in impact on the time of the incident. The evaluation and charging resolution concerning this matter are ruled by 720 ILCS 5/7-5(a) which states partially that:
[A peace officer] is justified in utilizing drive more likely to trigger dying or nice bodily hurt solely when: (i) he fairly believes, based mostly on the totality of the circumstances, that such drive is important to forestall dying or nice bodily hurt to himself or such different individual…
In pertinent half, Part 7/5 additional mandates:
(f) The choice by a peace officer to make use of drive shall be evaluated from the angle of an affordable officer in the identical state of affairs, based mostly on the totality of the circumstances identified to or perceived by the officer on the time of the choice, reasonably than with the advantage of hindsight, and that the totality of the circumstances shall account for events when officers could also be pressured to make fast judgments about utilizing drive.
Moreover, in assessing the reasonableness of a police officer’s use of lethal drive, the USA Supreme Courtroom has held that “the reasonableness of a specific use of drive have to be judged from the angle of an affordable officer on the scene, reasonably than with 20/20 imaginative and prescient of hindsight.” Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989). Accordingly, in assessing the proof on this incident, the CCSAO’s evaluation concerning whether or not the actions of Officers Spanos, Giampapa, Pacheco and Webb have been affordable requires consideration of the totality of the circumstances obtainable to the officers on the scene because the incident was unfolding.
III. STATEMENT OF FACTS
On March 21, 2024, at roughly 6:00 pm, Dexter Reed was the only real occupant and driver of a white SUV within the neighborhood of Hamlin and Avers in Chicago, Illinois. 5 Chicago Police Officers assigned to an eleventh District Tactical Unit have been driving in an unmarked police car sporting plain garments and clearly marked police vests. The officers, together with Officer Aubrey Webb (driver), Officer Gregory Saint Louis (entrance passenger), Officer Alexandra Giampapa (proper rear), Officer Victor Pacheco (rear center) and Officer Thomas Spanos (left rear) carried out a visitors cease of Reed’s car at Ferdinand and Avers. After Reed didn’t adjust to the officers’ verbal instructions, the state of affairs escalated and Reed fired a number of photographs by his passenger window, hitting Officer Saint Louis within the wrist. The opposite 4 officers returned hearth as Reed fired further photographs on the officers. Reed then exited his car and moved towards the rear bumper of his car. Officers continued to shoot, unable to find out whether or not Reed was nonetheless armed. Reed fell to the bottom behind his car. The officers fired a complete of 96 photographs and Reed fired roughly 11 photographs. Reed sustained 13 gunshot wounds.
Officers supplied medical consideration to Reed till Chicago Hearth Division personnel arrived and took over remedy. Reed was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital the place he was pronounced useless.
Reed’s firearm was recovered in slide-lock place from the entrance passenger seat of Reed’s car. Eleven fired cartridge instances have been additionally recovered from Reed’s car. Forensic examinations revealed these fired cartridge instances have been fired by Reed’s firearm. Moreover, a forensic examination of the bullet recovered from Officer Saint Louis’ arm established that it was fired by Reed’s firearm. Bullets and fragments have been recovered from the scene and submitted to the Illinois State Police Forensic Laboratory which established {that a} bullet recovered from the road, within the course of the place the capturing officers stood, matched Reed’s firearm.
On March 22, 2024, the Prepare dinner County Medical Examiner’s Workplace carried out a postmortem examination on Dexter Reed and decided the reason for dying to be a number of gunshot wounds and the way of his dying to be murder (dying attributable to one other). Of the 13 gunshot wounds sustained by Reed, seven had corresponding exit wounds. A complete of seven projectiles have been recovered from Reed’s physique through the examination and have been subsequently discovered appropriate for identification by the Illinois State Police Crime Laboratory. 4 bullets have been recognized as having been discharged from Officer Spanos’ weapon and two bullets have been recognized as having been discharged from Officer Pacheco’s weapon. The remaining bullet was from an unrelated incident that occurred in 2021 throughout which Reed sustained a number of gunshot wounds.
Extra forensic testing carried out on the Illinois State Police lab revealed that swabs taken from Reed’s fingers have been constructive for gunshot residue. Additional, DNA testing carried out on swabs taken from the firearm recovered in Reed’s car have been per Reed’s DNA profile.
Parts of this incident have been recorded on physique worn cameras in addition to third celebration video surveillance cameras. The video footage units forth a timeline indicating that the interplay between Reed and the officers happened inside roughly 71 seconds. Inside 30 seconds of the officers approaching Reed’s car, Reed fired the primary photographs which struck Officer Saint Louis. Throughout the subsequent 11 seconds, the officers exchanged hearth with Reed. There was then an 8 second pause after which Reed fired once more and a second change of fireplace with the officers occurred. After roughly 16 seconds of that gunfire change, Reed exited his car, walked towards the again of his car and fell to the bottom. Officer Pacheco ceased firing inside 1 second of Reed falling, Officer Giampapa ceased firing inside 3 seconds, and Officer Spanos ceased firing inside 6 seconds.
IV. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION
A felony prosecution for both first- or second-degree homicide would require proof past an affordable doubt that the concerned officers weren’t legally justified in utilizing lethal drive in opposition to Dexter Reed. In different phrases, a decide or a jury would want to conclude that the officers didn’t fairly consider that they or others have been in imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or dying. On this case, nevertheless, the proof established that Reed was armed with a firearm which he used to fireside at, strike, and injure Officer Saint Louis earlier than firing within the course of different officers. Accordingly, based mostly on the proof reviewed on this matter and the relevant authorized commonplace, the proof is inadequate to assist a discovering past an affordable doubt that Chicago Police Officers Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco and Aubrey Webb weren’t legally justified in utilizing lethal drive in opposition to Reed.
The proof has established that Dexter Reed fired the primary photographs towards the passenger aspect of his car hanging Officer Saint Louis. The 4 officers responded by firing their weapons at Reed. After 11 seconds, the officers stopped firing, leading to an 8 second pause. That pause ended with a second spherical of gunshots throughout which Reed fired once more. Video footage confirmed a plume of smoke coming from the driving force’s aspect of Reed’s car and a second change of gunfire between Reed and the officers. Forensic testing confirmed that 11 fired cartridge instances recovered from the scene have been fired from Reed’s weapon which was discovered empty within the slide-lock place. Moreover, the bullet recovered from Officer Saint Louis’ arm was fired from Reed’s weapon. Additional, a bullet and bullet fragments have been recovered from the road the place the officers stood through the gunfire change. The bullet was forensically examined and located to have come from Reed’s firearm. This confirms that Reed not solely fired towards the passenger aspect of his car at Officer Saint Louis, but additionally out of the driving force’s aspect which is the course the place that fired bullet was recovered.
Inside roughly 10 seconds of the second volley of gunfire, Reed exited his car, and his weapon was left contained in the car. Subsequently, Reed was unarmed through the approximate 10 seconds from when he exited the car and the capturing stopped. Nonetheless, because the video footage displays, when Reed exited his car, he didn’t increase his fingers or seem to give up. Reasonably, he was in a crouching place along with his fingers not seen to the officers as he moved to the rear of his car. These are circumstances to contemplate when analyzing the reasonableness of the officers’ beliefs as as to whether Reed introduced an imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or dying to the officers.
Moreover, in evaluating the choice to make use of drive more likely to trigger dying, the choice shall be considered from the angle of an affordable officer in the identical state of affairs, based mostly on the totality of the circumstances identified to or perceived by the officers on the time of the choice.
An examination of the totality of those circumstances reveals that it was affordable for the officers to consider they have been in imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or dying after Reed shot Officer Saint Louis and continued capturing on the officers who returned hearth. After Reed fired further photographs on the officers, the officers have been affordable of their perception that Reed continued to be a lethal menace. Though it was later realized that Reed was not armed after he exited the car, it was not unreasonable for the officers to consider that Reed was nonetheless armed when he exited and gave the impression to be making an attempt to flee and the officers continued to be in imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or dying.
Based mostly on the proof reviewed on this matter and the relevant authorized requirements, the proof is inadequate to assist the submitting of felony fees for the usage of lethal drive by Chicago Police Officers Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco and Aubrey Webb. Subsequently, the CCSAO won’t pursue felony fees on this case.
Pursuant to insurance policies and enacted laws, the CCSAO referred the evaluate of the case to the Workplace of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) for a further impartial evaluate. ILSAAP reviewed the case and on July 7, 2025, concurred that no felony fees are acceptable.
This conclusion relies completely on the related felony legal guidelines and requirements of proof in Illinois and doesn’t restrict administrative motion by the Chicago Police Division or civil actions the place much less stringent legal guidelines, guidelines, and authorized requirements of proof apply. The CCSAO expresses no opinion concerning the propriety or chance of success of any such actions.
