A black former Milwaukee police officer now faces homicide charges for his shooting of an armed black man.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office charged former cop Dominique Heaggan-Brown with first degree reckless homicide in the death of Sylville Smith, reports CBS 58.
Heaggan-Brown shot Smith after he fled a traffic stop while carrying a semi-automatic handgun, police maintained. The criminal complaint filed by the district attorney sheds more light on the situation.
According to the complaint, after Smith fled the stop, Heaggan-Brown and another officer chased him down. Smith ran toward a chain link fence and slipped, according to body camera footage. Smith then picked himself back up, still holding the gun.
He turned his head and upper body toward both of the officers and raised his gun in the air. He then threw the gun over the fence.
Heaggan-Brown shot him in the bicep, body camera footage shows. When Heaggan-Brown reached Smith, he fired directly into Smith’s chest while he was on the ground, according to the footage.
Smith’s family called the charges a necessary first step in attaining justice in a statement.
“We always believed that Sylville should be alive today, and that this rogue officer was completely wrong. Though the decision to prosecute cannot bring back Sylville, justice is needed for our family as we continue to move through deep grief and seek justice for his wrongful death,” they said.
The Milwaukee Police Department recently fired Heaggan-Brown after a bizarre series of sexual assault allegations against him surfaced. (RELATED: Milwaukee Officer Who Shot Black Man Fired Over Bizarre Sexual Assault Investigation)
A criminal complaint accused Heaggan-Brown of bragging about being untouchable, propositioning to pay for sex with two other people, trying to cover up an alleged rape of a drunk man and having inappropriate photos and videos of alleged sexual acts on his phone.
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