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Former Mississippi officers indicted in death of Keith Murriel

The charges come as newly releaed body camera footage shows the violent arrest of Keith Murriel.
Former Mississippi officers indicted in death of Keith Murriel
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A grand jury in Mississippi indicted three former police officers in the death of Keith Murriel, who police detained and beat during an incident on New Year's Eve.

The jury indicted former officers Avery Willis and Kenya McCarty on second-degree murder charges, and former officer James Land with manslaughter, on May 12.

The police department placed the officers on administrative leave after the incident. The department then fired McCarty in February, and Willis and Land in April.

Newly released body camera footage shows the three officers tackled Keith Murriel while they arrested him for allegedly trespassing at a hotel. The officers shocked Murriel multiple times with stun guns. Officer McCarty put her knee on Murriel's back while they attempted to handcuff him, and the officers laid him in the back of a patrol vehicle.

The camera footage showed one officer used a racial slur to refer to Murriel, a Black man.

Murriel died after police took him into custody.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the city had released the footage now that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has completed its inquiry into the incident.

"We believe we have seen actions that are excessive, disheartening and tragic," Lumumba said at a news conference. "And we believe that is not representative of the vision of public safety that not only this administration wants to put forward, but we believe the men and women of JPD want to put forward."


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