A Michigan State Police trooper has been charged with murder and faces a life sentence for allegedly running over a suspect in an unmarked squad car during a police chase and inflicting fatal injuries on him .
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that she is filing charges against the detective. Sgt. Brian Keely, 50, in connection with the death of Samuel Sterling, 25, who was black.
Keely is charged with one count of second-degree murder, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison, and one count of involuntary manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 15 years. Sterling’s family welcomed the news — his mother, Andrica Cage, told Grand Rapids’ NBC affiliate WOOD-TV that she was crying with happiness.
Keely and the State Police Sixth District Fugitive Task Force were attempting to arrest Sterling, a probation runaway who was wanted on several felony warrants, on April 17, the prosecutor said general. He was spotted at a gas station in Kentwood, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and after being approached by police, fled on foot, according to the attorney general’s statement.
“A number of MSP troopers and other local law enforcement officers pursued Sterling, both in their vehicles and on foot, when the unmarked vehicle that D/Sgt Keely was driving turned and struck Sterling in the parking lot of a nearby fast food restaurant,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Sterling was taken to University of Michigan Metro Health Hospital, but died from his injuries later that day. Sgt. Keely’s actions that day were legally negligent and created a very high risk of death or serious injury, which otherwise could have been avoided,” Nessel said in a video announcing the charges.
Body-worn camera footage released by state police shows Keely on the ground and critically injured, screaming in pain.
Ven Johnson, the Sterling family’s attorney, told WOOD-TV that the officer “clearly used a police car as a deadly weapon, knowing full well that Samuel was right there and as he moved toward him, by going up and over a curb to try to cut him off, he knew he could hit him.
“Some would say he hit him intentionally, and that’s what I saw on the video,” Johnson added.
Marc Curtis, Keely’s attorney, told WOOD-TV that Keely was a religious man who was “heartbroken” for Sterling’s family and said the charges were the result of political pressure. The Michigan Attorney General chose to ignore the facts of this incident and rely on political pressure,” he said in a written statement.
“It is also unfortunate that our governor, without having seen or heard all of the evidence in this matter, has chosen to express his opinion and side with law enforcement in this matter,” he said. for follow-up.
Curtis added that although tragic, “the accident could also have been avoided if Mr. Sterling had simply complied with the detectives’ orders.” Curtis previously said his client had “no intention” of harming Sterling.
Michigan State Police voluntarily referred the case to the attorney general on May 10. Keely has been suspended since the day of the incident.
“Public integrity is a top priority for my department and we remain committed to providing a thorough and fair review and resolution in every case brought before us,” Nessel said.
An arraignment date for Keely has not yet been set.
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