MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Department of Justice, along with its Civil Rights Division, will review the shooting of Darrius Stewart.
A court has ordered the TBI files in the investigation of the shooting death of Darrius Stewart be released to the public by tomorrow, December 15.
The DOJ has been “conducting an independent, comprehensive, and careful review of the evidence collected related to the shooting of Stewart.”
A grand jury chose not to indict Memphis police officer Connor Schilling for shooting and killing Stewart July 17, 2015, during a traffic stop.
The driver was allowed to leave, but Stewart was held because he had two active warrants.
Iowa City Police charged Stewart with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse.
Police in Illinois had a warrant for Stewart for juvenile delinquency.
Schilling said Stewart, who was not handcuffed, attacked him when he opened his patrol car door.
Police say Stewart grabbed Schilling’s handcuffs and began beating the officer with them.
In a news conference Monday, Carlos Moore, the attorney for Darrius Stewart’s family, said he and the family were “delighted” and “cautiously optimistic” about the DOJ opening the investigation into Stewart’s death.
“We believe that the evidence will be there,” he said.
The Memphis branch of the NAACP also said in a statement it is pleased the Civil Rights Division will review the case.
“He just wanted to live a normal life like everybody else,” Stewart’s father said about his son. “We need justice right now.”
Former U.S. Attorney David Kustoff said it appears the DOJ is now reviewing the TBI’s investigation and not conducting its own separate investigation. Kustoff said if the department needed further investigation, the FBI or TBI will do it.
