No costs might be filed towards the Chicago law enforcement officials who fatally shot Dexter Reed final 12 months, after prosecutors concluded their actions have been justified after Reed fired first, wounding a tactical officer throughout a Humboldt Park site visitors cease. The Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace introduced its resolution on Wednesday.
Prosecutors stated their investigation discovered the officers acted “fairly” and believed they have been in “imminent hazard” when Reed fired the primary shot throughout the March 21, 2024, encounter.
The investigation decided Reed fired a complete of 11 rounds throughout the confrontation. Officers continued taking pictures as Reed exited his SUV, ultimately collapsing to the pavement behind the automobile. He was on pretrial launch for a felony gun case on the time of his loss of life.
A state panel reviewed the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace investigation and agreed with its conclusions, in line with a memo launched by the workplace Wednesday. The total textual content of the memo, which features a abstract of the investigation, is shared under.
The Civilian Workplace of Police Accountability (COPA) has not but launched its findings within the case. The company’s dealing with of the incident grew to become a flashpoint final 12 months when then-chief administrator, Andrea Kersten, went on a whirlwind media tour, questioning whether or not the officers have been truthful about their causes for stopping Reed.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling bristled at Kersten’s public feedback, saying they undermined belief within the investigative course of and have been made earlier than her company even spoke with the officers concerned. Kersten resigned earlier this 12 months, as studies surfaced that she was susceptible to termination.
Reed’s loss of life intensified calls from some teams to restrict CPD’s capacity to conduct site visitors stops. The Group Fee for Public Security and Accountability (CCPSA) has voiced assist for such a coverage change, regardless of a CCPSA-commissioned ballot exhibiting the overwhelming majority of Chicagoans oppose limitations.
Right here is the complete public memo as launched by the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace on Wednesday:
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 businesses together with the Civilian Workplace of Police Accountability (COPA), the Chicago Police Division’s Investigative Response Group (IRT), and the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace (CCSAO) Bureau of Investigations subsequently interviewed legislation enforcement witnesses, civilian witnesses, fireplace division personnel, reviewed radio transmissions, images of the scene, police studies, medical data, the Prepare dinner County Medical Examiner Publish-Mortem Report, Toxicology Report, Illinois State Police Crime Lab Stories, Physique-Worn Digital camera (BWC) footage and video surveillance footage.
The CCSAO because the company liable for making felony charging choices underneath Illinois legislation for incidents that happen in Prepare dinner County, reviewed the proof collected throughout the investigation to find out whether or not there was a superb religion foundation for submitting felony costs. After a radical evaluation, the CCSAO has concluded that the proof is inadequate to assist felony costs towards 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 unbiased evaluation. ILSAAP reviewed the case and concurred that the proof didn’t assist felony costs towards any officer.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
In making any charging resolution, the CCSAO is sure by the Illinois Felony Code in impact on the time of the incident. The evaluation and charging resolution relating to this matter are ruled by 720 ILCS 5/7-5(a) which states partially that:
[A peace officer] is justified in utilizing power prone to trigger loss of life or nice bodily hurt solely when: (i) he fairly believes, primarily based on the totality of the circumstances, that such power is important to stop loss of life 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 power shall be evaluated from the attitude of an affordable officer in the identical state of affairs, primarily based on the totality of the circumstances identified to or perceived by the officer on the time of the choice, quite than with the good thing about hindsight, and that the totality of the circumstances shall account for events when officers could also be compelled to make fast judgments about utilizing power.
Moreover, in assessing the reasonableness of a police officer’s use of lethal power, the US Supreme Courtroom has held that “the reasonableness of a specific use of power should be judged from the attitude of an affordable officer on the scene, quite 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 relating to whether or not the actions of Officers Spanos, Giampapa, Pacheco and Webb have been cheap requires consideration of the totality of the circumstances accessible 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 automobile 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 site visitors cease of Reed’s automobile 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 pictures by means of his passenger window, hitting Officer Saint Louis within the wrist. The opposite 4 officers returned fireplace as Reed fired extra pictures on the officers. Reed then exited his automobile and moved towards the rear bumper of his automobile. Officers continued to shoot, unable to find out whether or not Reed was nonetheless armed. Reed fell to the bottom behind his automobile. The officers fired a complete of 96 pictures and Reed fired roughly 11 pictures. Reed sustained 13 gunshot wounds.
Officers supplied medical consideration to Reed till Chicago Fireplace Division personnel arrived and took over therapy. Reed was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital the place he was pronounced lifeless.
Reed’s firearm was recovered in slide-lock place from the entrance passenger seat of Reed’s automobile. Eleven fired cartridge instances have been additionally recovered from Reed’s automobile. 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 path of the place the taking pictures 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 loss of life to be a number of gunshot wounds and the way of his loss of life to be murder (loss of life 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 throughout 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 arms have been constructive for gunshot residue. Additional, DNA testing carried out on swabs taken from the firearm recovered in Reed’s automobile have been in step with Reed’s DNA profile.
Parts of this incident have been recorded on physique worn cameras in addition to third get together video surveillance cameras. The video footage units forth a timeline indicating that the interplay between Reed and the officers occurred inside roughly 71 seconds. Inside 30 seconds of the officers approaching Reed’s automobile, Reed fired the primary pictures which struck Officer Saint Louis. Throughout the subsequent 11 seconds, the officers exchanged fireplace with Reed. There was then an 8 second pause after which Reed fired once more and a second trade of fireplace with the officers occurred. After roughly 16 seconds of that gunfire trade, Reed exited his automobile, walked towards the again of his automobile 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 power towards Dexter Reed. In different phrases, a choose 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 loss of life. 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 path of different officers. Accordingly, primarily based on the proof reviewed on this matter and the relevant authorized normal, 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 power towards Reed.
The proof has established that Dexter Reed fired the primary pictures towards the passenger facet of his automobile putting 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 facet of Reed’s automobile and a second trade 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 throughout the gunfire trade. The bullet was forensically examined and located to have come from Reed’s firearm. This confirms that Reed not solely fired towards the passenger facet of his automobile at Officer Saint Louis, but additionally out of the driving force’s facet which is the path the place that fired bullet was recovered.
Inside roughly 10 seconds of the second volley of gunfire, Reed exited his automobile, and his weapon was left contained in the automobile. Due to this fact, Reed was unarmed throughout the approximate 10 seconds from when he exited the automobile and the taking pictures stopped. Nonetheless, because the video footage displays, when Reed exited his automobile, he didn’t elevate his arms or seem to give up. Relatively, he was in a crouching place along with his arms not seen to the officers as he moved to the rear of his automobile. These are circumstances to contemplate when inspecting the reasonableness of the officers’ beliefs as as to if Reed offered an imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or loss of life to the officers.
Moreover, in evaluating the choice to make use of power prone to trigger loss of life, the choice shall be considered from the attitude of an affordable officer in the identical state of affairs, primarily based 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 cheap for the officers to consider they have been in imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or loss of life after Reed shot Officer Saint Louis and continued taking pictures on the officers who returned fireplace. After Reed fired extra pictures on the officers, the officers have been cheap 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 automobile, it was not unreasonable for the officers to consider that Reed was nonetheless armed when he exited and seemed to be making an attempt to flee and the officers continued to be in imminent hazard of nice bodily hurt or loss of life.
Based mostly on the proof reviewed on this matter and the relevant authorized requirements, the proof is inadequate to assist the submitting of felony costs for using lethal power by Chicago Police Officers Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco and Aubrey Webb. Due to this fact, the CCSAO is not going to pursue felony costs on this case.
Pursuant to insurance policies and enacted laws, the CCSAO referred the evaluation of the case to the Workplace of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) for a further unbiased evaluation. ILSAAP reviewed the case and on July 7, 2025, concurred that no felony costs are applicable.
This conclusion is predicated fully 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 relating to the propriety or chance of success of any such actions.
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