Chicago officer won’t be charged after fatal shooting of mentally ill teen

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

On Friday, the state attorney’s office announced that Chicago Officer Robert Rialmo would not face charges over the fatal shooting of Quitonio LeGrier, a 19-year-old mentally ill teenager, as well as 55-year-old Bettie Jones,  and the decision has already drawn the ire of his family as well as their lawyers.

“There is absolutely not justification for the use of excessive force in that instance,” said attorney Larry Rogers Jr., who represents Jones’ family. “Bettie Jones was at her home. She was in her house. She was doing everything right that day … to suggest this is a justifiable shooting is to ignore the objective evidence.”

— Chicago just lost its largest black bank and no one noticed — 

LeGrier’s mother, Janet Cooksey, said that the decision was “totally unacceptable” and “unfair.”

“Quitinio did the right thing. He called for help,” Cooksey said. “He called for help not one time, not two, but three (times.) He called for help to get shot… and yet this cop is not going to jail?”

LeGrier was shot when police were responding to a domestic disturbance call, and Rielmo shot him when he saw that LeGrier had a baseball bat after his partner “tapped Rialmo on his back and told him to look out,” according to a report from the attorney’s office.

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