North Miami Officer Charged in Shooting

MIAMI, FL — Criminal charges were filed against a North Miami police officer on Wednesday in connection with the July 2016 shooting of behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey. Officer Jonathan Aledda is being charged with attempted manslaughter and culpable negligence.

"The initial incident resulted when a resident of the Miami Achievement Center for the Developmentally Disabled (MACtown), who required 24 hour one-on-one supervision, left the facility with his silver tanker truck toy in-hand," explained Ed Griffith of the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. "The resident’s behavioral therapist, Mr. Charles Kinsey, closely followed in an attempt to return him from the street back into the facility. Initial 9-1-1 telephone contacts about a man, possibly suicidal, with a silver weapon in his hand, led to the arrival of members of the North Miami Police Department."

North Miami Commander Emile Hollant was subsequently found not to have been "physically present" at the time of the shooting, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Officials also determined that Hollant had not lied or attempted to mislead investigators regarding his involvement in the police shooting.

Griffith said that two North Miami police officers were within 20 feet of the situation "when Officer Aledda, who was 152 feet away, fired 3 shots from his Colt M4 Carbine rifle. Officer Aledda was not in a position to correctly assess the situation or in a position to accurately fire. It was one of Officer Aledda’s shots which struck Charles Kinsey."

The officer was arrested following a joint investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. The shooting occurred on July 18, 2016.