SLED probe on Chester man killed by police done. What will SC Attorney General do now?
South Carolina police have completed an investigation into the killing of a Chester man by police in November. The next step is for state prosecutors to make a decision about the actions of the officers.
Ariane Lamont McCree, 28, died Nov. 23 when he was shot by Chester Police Department officers outside a Walmart after a shoplifting incident, law enforcement officials said after the shooting. Police said McCree had a gun when he was shot.
The State Law Enforcement Division investigated. That SLED investigation report has been submitted to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office for review by prosecutors, said Robert Kittle, spokesman for the attorney general.
What the SLED investigation concluded remains unclear. Both Kittle and SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby said that the SLED report is part of an open case.
“We cannot release the SLED report because the case is still under review,” Kittle said in a written statement to The Herald.
The attorney general’s office will determine if any charges will be filed, Kittle said. No timeline has been set for that decision, Kittle said.
Randy Newman, 6th Circuit Solicitor and top prosecutor for Chester County, said he asked the attorney general to handle the case.
The shooting has become a dividing point between some in Chester and law enforcement. Hundreds of people attended a “March for Justice” in February from downtown Chester to the Chester County Courthouse. At least three gatherings and demonstrations done with the National Action Network have been held.
Chester police say McCree was armed at the time of the incident. In a written statement on Nov. 26, Chester police chief Eric Williams said: “While in custody the suspect physically assaulted one of the officers and fled Walmart on foot. During the foot pursuit, the suspect presented a firearm, resulting in two officers with the Chester Police Department discharging their firearms.”
In February, McCree’s family filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful death, false arrest, and civil rights violations against the Chester police, the city of Chester, Walmart, and the officers whose names have not been released. That lawsuit, first filed in South Carolina civil court in Chester County, has since been moved to federal court. The lawsuit remains pending.
McCree was detained and searched, then ran out of the store while handcuffed because he was “fearing for his life,” the lawsuit states.
McCree graduated from Chester High School and Jackson State University in Mississippi, his family and lawyers said. He played linebacker on the football team at Jackson State, according to family and school officials.
SLED has declined to release police bodycam and dashcam videos from the incident, saying the investigation is ongoing. SLED declined to release the videos after The Herald filed a S.C. Freedom of Information Act request in December.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
