COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A grand jury will decide whether to indict Columbus Police officers for the fatal shootings of Ma’Khia Bryant and Andrew Teague, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the announcement at a Wednesday news conference that the prosecutor had received the cases from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
A statement from the prosecutor’s office laid out the plan on Wednesday.
The matters will be presented to a Grand Jury for review. The Ma’Khia Bryant matter is being assigned to Special Prosecutors H. Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer due to a conflict with Franklin County Children Services, for which the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney is legal counsel. There is not presently a timeline available for when these matters will go before a Grand Jury. As always, Prosecutor Tyack is committed to preserving the integrity of each matter that comes into the office, and to being transparent with the residents of Franklin County.
Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney release
- The fatal shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, 16, by CPD Officer Nicholas Reardon in April was recorded on Reardon’s body camera. He was one of the officers who responded to the call of an altercation on Legion Lane in Columbus. CPD said a girl with a knife attempted to stab two people. Reardon fired his weapon four times, hitting Bryant. She was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
- Andrew Teague, 43, was shot and killed after a pursuit and wrong-way crash on I-270 in March. CPD said Teague was wanted on a felonious assault warrant from an incident that happed February 2, 2021. When Teague’s vehicle was hit by two oncoming vehicles and came to a stop, police say Teague got out of his vehicle and was confronted by CPD and Franklin County deputies. Officer John Kifer, a 31-year veteran, and Deputy Michael Severance, a 48-year old veteran, were identified as the officers involved.
BCI led the investigations into both cases.