MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich says no charges will be filed against officers involved in three separate fatal shooting incidents of fleeing felons that happened in 2021.
The DA’s office said the decisions were based on facts, evidence, and statements in comprehensive reports by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Response Team which were then examined and discussed by the DA’s Officer Involved Death Review Team including Weirich and five senior prosecuting attorneys.
The law enforcement agencies involved are notified, the DA meets with the families of the deceased, and redactions are made to the TBI reports which include thousands of pages and hundreds of photographs before decisions are released.
Weirich said she got permission from Chancery Court to release the reports to the public since TBI investigative files were confidential under state law at the time. A bill approved in 2017 allows TBI reports on officer-involved deaths to be made public after investigation and prosecution are completed.
TBI reports have been released for the following incidents:
On August 16, Antonio Jackson, 26, was shot by a lieutenant with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office who was trying to arrest him in a narcotics investigation. According to the DA, Jackson drove off and hit the officer with his car instead of surrendering.
The officer fired two shots before he was knocked to the ground, one of them striking Jackson in the chest and killing him.
Investigators found a stolen pistol, marijuana, cocaine, fentanyl and $1,900 in his pockets.
The second incident happened on December 15 outside a McDonald’s on Third Street where Kayla Lucas, 25, was in the drive-thru line in a car stolen out of Olive Branch, Mississippi.
The DA’s office said when an officer approached the car with his weapon drawn, Lucas put the car in reverse, accelerated, and struck an MPD unit as a second officer was getting out. Another officer jumped back slipped and fell while trying to avoid the car as it moved toward him leading the first officer to shoot at the driver through the windshield.
Lucas was struck on her side and died at the scene.
A third incident happened the next day during a high-speed chase with an Arkansas State Trooper into Memphis that ended on West McLemore at I-55.
Terrance Dogan, 27, and John Henry Taylor, 18, were involved in the chase.
The DA’s office said Dogan, who was wanted on violent felony warrants out of South Carolina, fired multiple shots as he drove past and in front of the trooper. The trooper was shot in the chest but his vest stopped the bullet.
The trooper then fired his duty rifle through his own windshield which struck the suspect’s vehicle multiple times before stopping.
After surveillance, MPD officers found Dogan and Taylor dead. Each of them was shot once.
The TBI reports in each case can be reviewed here.
The TBI reports and photos on the District Attorney’s website have been redacted in accordance with Tennessee law and privacy standards. If the officer or officers involved in the death are not charged with a crime, their names also will be redacted.
In 2015, DA Weirich, the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, and the TBI signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a new procedure in which officer-involved death investigations are conducted.
Under the MOU, the DA is immediately notified when someone dies at the hands of law enforcement or dies while in the custody of law enforcement if warranted by the circumstances. The DA then notifies the TBI and asks them to conduct an investigation.
When the report is complete, it will be sent to the DA who will decide if criminal charges should be filed.
