CASE CLOSED

No Federal Charges for D.C. Police Officer Who Shot and Killed Deon Kay

Federal prosecutors said they couldn’t prove the officer “committed willful violations of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute.”

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has closed their investigation into Deon Kay’s death without filing charges against the Metropolitan Police Department officer who shot and killed the Black teen. Kay was killed just months after his 18th birthday by MPD officer Alexander Alvarez, who reported that the teen had a gun. Officers described Kay as a “validated” gang member in the area who had run into law enforcement before. His death sparked protests across Washington, D.C., and outrage from Black Lives Matter activists. Federal prosecutors on Thursday said that they couldn’t prove Alvarez broke any federal laws and decided to close the case. “Based on the results of a thorough investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office cannot prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the MPD officer who shot Mr. Kay committed willful violations of the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute,” a press release from the Justice Department states. “Specifically, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is unable to disprove a claim of self-defense or defense of others by the officer involved, who fired a single shot at Mr. Kay within one second of Mr. Kay holding a gun in his hand and raising his arm.”