Rayshard Brooks: Ex-Officer Faces Murder Charge, Death Penalty

ATLANTA, GA — A former Atlanta Police officer faces 11 criminal charges — including felony murder, which carries the death penalty — in the death of Rayshard Brooks on Friday after a confrontation in a Wendy's parking lot. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his investigation shows Brooks never posed a threat to former Officer Garrett Rolfe or Officer Devin Brosnan.

For more than 41 minutes Brooks answered police questions, followed their instructions and never had a weapon, Howard said. “Mr. Brooks never displayed any aggressive behavior,” he said.

Key in the decision to press felony charges against the officers was the fact that the police didn't tell Brooks he was under arrest for driving drunk, and that the officers kicked or stood on Brooks as he lay wounded in the parking lot, prosecutor Howard said at a Wednesday news conference.

"He never presented himself as a threat," Howard said of Brooks. "At the very beginning he was peacefully sleeping in his car. After he was awakened by the officer he was cooperative and he was directed to move his car to another location. He calmly moved his car."

Rolfe faces 11 charges including felony murder and aggravated assault. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the two officers.

“I was appalled,” said Brooks' wife, Tomika Miller, after hearing the account of how her husband was treated. “I was very hurt, I felt everything he felt just by hearing what he went through. It hurt really bad.”

For 2 minutes and 12 seconds no medical aid was given to Brooks. During that time Rolfe kicked Brooks while he was laying on his ground, fighting for his life, Howard said. That action was captured on video footage provided either by witnesses or the officers' body cams; prosecutors have reviewed multiple videos of the confrontation.

Brosnan, who is a cooperating witness for the state, faces three charges including aggravated assault and violation of oath. He stood on Brooks’ shoulders while Brooks was lying on the ground, Howard said.

"I got him," Rolfe said after he shot Brooks in the back and a bullet penetrated the victim's heart.

Howard said that Rolfe violated his oath to the police department by shooting at Brooks' back, using excessive force and not "rendering timely medical attention." He faces charges on a total of seven violations.

Brosnan’s attorney, Don Samuel, told AJC.com that his client has not agreed to be a state’s witness, and has not admitted guilt or doing anything wrong.

Both officers are being asked to surrender themselves by 6 p.m. Thursday.

"We are asking the court to grant a bond of $50,000 and to allow Officer Brosnan to sign that bond," Howard said. "He would become one of the first police officers to actually indicate that he's willing to testify against someone in his own department."

The DA's office is recommending no bond for Rolfe.

An attorney for Tomika Miller said that she wasn't aware of all the details until Wednesday's press conference.

"Even in dark times like this you have to try and see the light and the positivity of this situation is the courageousness of Officer Brosnan who stepped forward and said what happened was wrong," said attorney Chris Stewart.

"It's not a day of joy watching the charges and what's going to happen to this officer because it shouldn't have happened. It's heartbreaking but it is an attempt to redefine justice because we don't have any idea what it is in this world anymore. If this is what justice is going to start looking like, officers stepping forward to stop other officers...then we support it."

The two white officers had responded to calls about a man who was asleep at the wheel in the Wendy's drive-thru lane, later identified as Brooks. Police video showed him cooperating until a breath test determined his blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit and one of the officers moved to handcuff him. Brooks was wrestled to the ground, broke free and took off with a stun gun; Rolfe shot him as he tried to run away.

Rolfe was fired after video was shared of the fatal shooting and Brosnan is on administrative leave. Erika Shields stepped down as Atlanta's police chief amid the turmoil last weekend, as well.

The father of Rayshard Brooks recently spoke out on the fatal confrontation.

“They shot him down like a dog. It’s not right,” Larry Barbine told WSB-TV from his home in Toledo, Ohio, where Brooks lived with him throughout 2019.

An autopsy report offered details on the death of Brooks, 27, who was shot by Atlanta police Friday when he resisted arrest after failing a field sobriety test. Brooks died after two gunshot wounds to the back, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office.

Brooks died of organ damage and blood loss. His death has been classified as a homicide. Brooks, a father of three girls and a stepson, celebrated his daughter's 8th birthday on Friday before he was killed.

In an interview with ABC News, Tomika Miller said her husband was a family man who believed in peace.

"I wish he could have made it. I wish they could have had sympathy or compassion," Miller said. "I just feel like they didn't have to be so aggressive."

Rolfe was with the police department for six years before he was fired after Brooks' death. During his time with the department Rofle had trained in de-escalation tactics, according to his department record.

He also took coursework in April in cultural awareness. This past January, he passed a course entitled "Use of Deadly Force."

Brosnan, who was hired in 2018, was placed on administration leave Saturday after the shooting, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Hours earlier, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned as calls for her firing built.

Bottoms said Shields offered her resignation, which she accepted. The city will launch a search for a new police chief. Former Assistant Police Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as the interim police chief.

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• Mayor Promises Changes In How Atlanta Police Officers Use Force
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• Officers Named, Body Cam Footage Released In Rayshard Brooks Case
• Tyler Perry To Cover Rayshard Brooks' Funeral Costs