A grand jury has indicted a former suburban Chicago police officer for the fatal shooting of a Black teen and the injury of his girlfriend. It has taken almost two years for the cop to be charged by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
State Attorney Eric Rinehart charged Waukegan Police officer Dante Salinas with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, CBS Chicago reported.
Stinnette’s girlfriend Tafara Williams was also allegedly injured as a result of Salinas’ conduct.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, Stinnette was riding in the passenger seat with Williams when the two were pulled over by a different officer.
As that officer started to interrogate the couple, Williams panicked and drove off. The officer called for backup and Salinas answered the call.
In a statement, the LCSAO said while speeding off the young lady crashed the car. Williams was “in the process of reversing and attempting to leave the area as Officer Salinas exited his squad car. The car did not hit Salinas. While standing next to Ms. Williams’ vehicle and clear of its path, Officer Salinas fired several shots into the driver’s side of the vehicle as it continued to reverse past him.”
Reports say Salinas shot six times within 12 seconds of him approaching Williams’ car.
On Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, three days after the shooting, Salinas was fired from the Waukegan Police Department. The department cited multiple policy violations during the incident as grounds for his dismissal, including the officer’s failure to activate his bodycam until after the shooting.
Only then, on the footage after the shooting, he can be heard saying, “It backed up right at me; it was in between my squad car … I fired my weapon because I thought I was the next one run over.”
