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Special prosecutor appointed in Dreasjon Reed death investigation

On Wednesday, Chief Randal Taylor called on the Marion county Superior court to appoint one immediately.
Dreasjon Reed (Facebook)

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — The Marion Superior Court has appointed Rosemary Khoury of Madison County to serve as the special prosecutor in the investigation of the May 6, 2020 shooting of Dreasjon Reed.

On Wednesday, Chief Randal Taylor called on the Marion county Superior court to appoint one immediately.

"This is unacceptable," Chief Taylor said. "Our community and this police department deserve better from the criminal justice system."

IMPD claims Reed was running from police, shot at an officer and the officer returned fire killing Reed. The incident was caught on a Facebook Live Reed was on at the time.

Click here to watch the full video of the Reed family's news conference from Wednesday.

Full statement from Chief Taylor:

"Nearly a month since the Marion County Prosecutor's Office declined to review the criminal investigation of Mr. Reed’s death, we continue to await the appointment of a special prosecutor to oversee this process. Our community is rightly calling for the release of information and the fulfillment of our commitment to a transparent investigation with monitoring from federal authorities. This simply cannot occur without the direction and oversight of an independent prosecutor.

This is unacceptable. Our community and this police department deserve better from the criminal justice system.

I join our community members in calling on the Marion County Superior Court to immediately appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation as it proceeds, release information as soon as is possible, and make a swift and thorough charging determination based on the facts of the case.”

Request for independent prosecutor

Back in May, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears filed a motion requesting an independent prosecutor for the investigation and potential prosecution in the May 6, 2020, officer-involved shooting death of Reed.

Prosecutor Mears said he believed Taylor’s role as a witness in the investigation constitutes a conflict of interest for him to act as the prosecutor in the case.

“We believe it is important that an independent prosecutor enter the process now to ensure that they can provide an outside review throughout the investigation,” Prosecutor Mears said.

The request does not impact if an outside agency is appointed to handle the investigation. That decision would come from IMPD or from Mayor Hogsett's office.

Mayor Hogsett's office also issued a response on the investigation, saying in part.

"While I continue to have confidence in Chief Randal Taylor and IMPD’s ability to carry out fair and thorough investigations, it is clear to me that more must be done to provide community confidence in the outcome of those processes. That is why this morning, I contacted the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and requested that they actively monitor the investigation of the two police action shootings that occurred this week."

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