Ohio Grand Jury Weighs Evidence Against Police in Death of Akron Man

A grand jury in Ohio will review evidence this week to determine whether eight police officers should face criminal charges in the death of Jayland Walker, a Black man who was fatally shot by the police in Akron last year, setting off a series of protests.

Mr. Walker, 25, died on June 27, 2022, after an attempted traffic stop. When Mr. Walker did not pull over, the police chased him, first in vehicles and then on foot. Officers later said that they had thought Mr. Walker had fired a weapon from his car and that they had feared he would fire again, prompting the officers to shoot at Mr. Walker as he ran from them.

It was later discovered that Mr. Walker, who sustained more than 60 gunshot wounds, was unarmed when he was killed and that the officers fired at him more than 90 times.

After hearing testimony and seeing evidence, the grand jury will decide whether the eight officers involving in the shooting should face criminal charges.

Here’s what to know.

What happened to Jayland Walker?

The police said they tried to stop Mr. Walker, who had one traffic ticket and no criminal record, shortly after midnight on June 27 for an equipment violation and a traffic violation. After Mr. Walker did not pull over, the police chased after him in their vehicles for more than seven minutes.

In footage of the chase, a popping sound can be heard, and a police officer reports gunfire coming from Mr. Walker’s car. A shot is not visible in the footage, but at a news conference the Police Department showed footage from outside the car that appeared to capture a muzzle flash coming from Mr. Walker’s driver’s-side door.

Mr. Walker, wearing a ski mask, got out of his car through the front passenger-side door and fled on foot as the officers chased him into a nearby parking lot. The officers shouted at Mr. Walker with their weapons drawn and tried unsuccessfully to use their stun guns on him before they began firing their guns. As the officers opened fire, Mr. Walker fell to the ground.

Several days later, the police said at a news conference that a handgun had been found in Mr. Walker’s car. A bullet casing was found where they said he had fired, and the police said it was consistent with the weapon that was recovered from Mr. Walker’s vehicle.

The officers were placed on leave.

The officers were placed on administrative leave in the days after the shooting. The Police Department released body camera footage of the shooting on July 3, 2022, setting off a number of protests in Akron, a city of about 200,000 people in northeastern Ohio, just south of Cleveland.

The protests prompted city officials to impose a nightly curfew and cancel a July 4 celebration. While several demonstrations were peaceful, a number of people were arrested during the protests after businesses in downtown Akron were damaged. Dan Horrigan, the mayor, said that some demonstrators had become “violent with officers.”

Why is a grand jury meeting?

A group of nine jurors is meeting to decide whether to indict the eight police officers involved in the shooting of Mr. Walker. The jurors will see evidence in the case, and then will decide whether the evidence supports criminal charges against the officers.

“A grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence,” Craig Morgan, Akron’s chief city prosecutor, said in a video update. “The purpose of the grand jury is to determine whether sufficient probable cause exists to charge a person or persons with a particular offense or offenses.”

Mr. Morgan said that the jurors would most likely hear witness testimony and review forensic evidence and that they might hear from forensic experts.

Bobby DiCello, a lawyer for Mr. Walker’s family, said in a statement that the officers would be invited to testify, adding that the process “favors the officers” because anyone else accused of a crime “would not necessarily be afforded that same privilege.”

It is expected that the Ohio attorney general’s office will take about a week to present evidence. After all of the evidence is presented, the jurors will convene to decide whether the evidence establishes enough probable cause for the officers to be charged.

“We have no idea on how long it will take grand jurors to deliberate on the matter,” Mr. Morgan said. “All we can ask is they take everything into consideration”

What happens after the grand jury?

If the grand jury determines that there is sufficient probable cause to charge the officers, the complaint will be formalized into an indictment.

The grand jury’s decision does not require a unanimous vote. Seven of the nine jurors must agree that there is probable cause to charge someone, according to Mr. Morgan. If they find enough probable cause, an arraignment, pretrial conferences and, ultimately, a trial will follow.

If an indictment is handed up, Mr. Morgan said, the officers may not all face the same charges.

Akron is preparing for more protests.

Akron city officials say they have spent weeks preparing for the grand jury’s decision, speaking with faith leaders, business owners, activists and community organizers about the case. They have also prepared for possible unrest by covering windows on the first floor of City Hall with plywood and setting up fencing around the courthouse and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

Akron officials have created a “demonstration zone” where people can protest in front of City Hall, the courthouse and the Akron Police Department. The area will be closed to traffic.

Mr. Morgan said that if anyone damaged property or attacked another person, the city would take action. “If somebody crosses the line, we’re going to charge them,” he said.

Mr. DiCello, the Walker family lawyer, said that the city was boarding up windows because “it has decided that if there’s going to be violence, it will come from people who are sick and tired of a system that has ignored them and injured them for generations.”

“City leadership doesn’t understand where that anger comes from,” Mr. DiCello said. “It doesn’t want to have that conversation because, deep down, it simply doesn’t care what they are going through.”