Two Indianapolis police officers accused of the death of a man who was stunned and detained on the ground during a mental health crisis were cleared of manslaughter on Friday, according to officials.
More than two years after Herman Whitfield III’s death, the jury found Indianapolis police officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez not guilty of all charges.
The 39-year-old’s father called police at 3:20 a.m. on April 25, 2022, and asked for an ambulance, claiming his son was “having a psychosis,” according to officials.
Officers discovered Whitfield naked, bleeding from the mouth, and roaming around. They eventually used a stun gun on him after he “moved quickly towards an officer,” according to the police department.
Whitfield was restrained with shackles before dying. Prosecutors said that being left restrained and prone killed him.
“In April 2022, Herman Jr. and Gladys Whitfield reached out for help, hoping that the police would protect their son in a moment of desperate need, and the result of what ensued was an absolute tragedy,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement following the not guilty verdicts.
Whitfield’s autopsy revealed that he died of “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdues, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use,” with morbid obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease contributing. His death was deemed a homicide.
Ahmad and Sanchez were indicted in 2023 for involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and violence.
John Kautzman, a defense attorney representing the cops, said Friday that Whitfield’s death was tragic, but that the evidence indicated the officers did their best under tough circumstances and did not commit a crime.
“Nobody, especially sworn police officers, are in the business of going out and harming people,” he stated. “They’re in the business of going out and trying to help people — and that’s what they were trying to do that day.”
In a statement released Friday, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Chris Bailey expressed his condolences to the Whitfield family, saying, “His death was a devastating loss.”
Ahmad and Sanchez were placed on leave following the event but will return to normal duties after refresher training, which Bailey described as usual protocol.
“Cases like this are deeply difficult, and there are no true winners,” Bailey said.
According to authorities, Whitfield, who stood 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 280 pounds, was handcuffed on the morning of the incident.
When medics waiting outside the residence were asked to enter, they urged Whitfield to roll over, but he was unconscious, according to authorities. The handcuffs were released, CPR was initiated, and Whitfield was transported to a hospital where he was declared dead, according to the police department.
During the trial’s closing statements, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Janna Skelton stated that the police opted to handcuff him on the floor and leave him in a prone position, resulting in his death, according to NBC station WTHR in Indianapolis.
Defense attorneys claimed that the handcuffing was legal, that Whitfield’s heart stopped before the cuffs were applied, and that the police were performing their duties, according to the station.
Whitfield died nearly two years after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis in May 2020 by an officer who kneeled on his neck, causing some police agencies throughout the country to re-evaluate or enhance policies for restraint of persons in custody.
Mears, the prosecutor, expressed sympathy for the Whitfield family.
“While heartbroken for the Whitfield family, I want to recognize the jurors for their consideration of the testimony and evidence over the past five days,” Mears told the crowd.
An attorney who claimed to represent the Whitfields did not immediately reply to a request for comment Friday evening.
“He’s a wonderful young man,” Whitfield’s father, Herman Whitfield Jr., said reporters when the police were indicted, according to video from WTHR.
“And he didn’t do anything to deserve to be killed,” Gladys Whitfield added.
Source: 2 Indianapolis police officers acquitted in death of man who was restrained
