Connecticut State Trooper is acquitted of murdering black teen
A former Connecticut state trooper was acquitted Friday of manslaughter and other charges in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old black man after a car chase four years ago.
The soldier, Brian D. North, was criminally charged in 2022 for the Jan. 15, 2020, killing of teenager Mubarak Soulemane. The killing occurred after Mr. Soulemane, who suffered from schizophrenia, led state troopers on a chase that ended in West Haven , Conn., where Mr. North, who is white, fired seven shots through the driver’s side window.
The six-member jury that heard the case in Milford found Mr North not guilty of all charges, including manslaughter and murder by criminal negligence. Mr. North’s lawyers gave him a slap on the back when the jury foreman announced the verdict.
“This was a difficult case,” State Superior Court Judge H. Gordon Hall told the jury. “The work you did was hard, and like I told you, you will never forget it.”
Mr. North was the first law enforcement officer in Connecticut to be charged in a fatal shooting in nearly two decades. The Connecticut Post reports this.
The defense focused on the finding that Mr. Soulemane was holding a knife in the car when Mr. North shot him, according to an investigation by the state Office of Inspector Generalwhich led to the indictment.
Before he was shot, the report said, Mr. Soulemane gestured upward with his arm and pointed his knife at the ceiling of the car. Mr. North shot seven times and then shouted, “Drop the knife!”
Despite Mr. Soulemane brandishing the knife, the inspector general’s office said in its report documenting the investigation that neither Mr. North “nor any other person was in immediate danger of serious injury or death” and that it “trooper’s use of deadly force not justified under Connecticut law.”
The inspector general, Robert Devlin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. North was charged on the first anniversary of the conviction of Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty of murder in the killing of George Floyd, a black man. Mr. Chauvin’s conviction paved the way for the case against Mr. North, Mark D. Arons, a lawyer for Mr. Soulemane’s family, said when the charges were filed.
If convicted, Mr. North faced a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Frank Riccio, one of Mr.’s attorneys. North, told a Connecticut television station that the shooting would haunt Mr. North for the rest of his life.
“He’s still shaken,” Mr. Riccio said. “This is not something he will ever live on. It was a very traumatic experience.”
Mr. North still faces a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Mr. Soulemane’s family. In statements made outside the courthouse on Friday, Mr Arons said it was “a terrible day for everyone inside.” He was flanked by members of Mr Soulemane’s family, who were present at the sentencing.
“We commend the jury for listening to all the evidence and taking it seriously,” Mr Arons said. “We obviously do not agree with the outcome.”