Philando Castile’s mother says the family is pleased with the decision to prosecute the officer that fatally shot her son. Valerie Castile says now another chapter begins. “We have gotten to this point and it is necessary for everyone to understand that we want peace,” she says. “We don’t want any protests to get outrageous, and I support protests, but it’s a matter to have things done.” Judge Glenda Hatchett, the Castile family’s attorney, says a civil lawsuit will also be filed but she wouldn’t elaborate.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced this morning he’s filed charges against the officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop last summer. Choi said in a morning news conference that he has concluded that the use of deadly force by St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez “was not justified and that sufficient facts exist to prove this to be true.” Yanez faces charges of second-degree manslaughter, plus felony counts of discharge of a firearm that endangered Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter, who were also in the vehicle. Officer Yanez’s first court appearance is Friday afternoon in Ramsey County.
In September the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced they’d completed their investigation into the shooting. Choi’s counterpart in neighboring Hennepin County, lead prosecutor Mike Freeman, did not utilize a grand jury and made the decision himself that charges would *not* be filed against officers involved in fatally shooting Jamar Clark.
Here’s part of the Castile family’s news conference with attorney Glenda Hatchett:
Here are excerpts from County Attorney Choi’s news conference: