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Protest For Tamir Rice

Source: JORDAN GONZALEZ/AFP / Getty Images

Nearly six months after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed on a playground by a Cleveland police officer, investigators have presented the findings of their probe into the shooting to prosecutors, who expect to convene a grand jury soon, ABC News said Wednesday.

A source tells ABC News that the grand jury will decide whether to charge either of the police officers involved in Tamir’s death last November, the report says.

Tamir was shot and killed by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann outside the Cudell Recreation Center. The child was holding an air-soft gun that police allege was indistinguishable from a deadly firearm, although a 911 caller identified it as a toy.

The death, which came amid a swarm of controversy over police-involved shootings in Black communities, sparked protests in Cleveland and across the nation.

From ABC News:

Walter Madison, one of the lawyers representing the Rice family, said that they are not happy about the prospect of the proceedings, which are secret.

“This moves from a public process that’s transparent to a more secretive one,” Madison told ABC News.

The investigation into the shooting, which took place when officers saw the pre-teen at a Cleveland playground holding what they later determined was a pellet gun, has been ongoing since the Nov. 22 shooting.

On May 12, Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney said that “the majority of our work is complete.”

Clifford Pinkney has since released a statement about the transfer of the findings of their investigation to the prosecutor’s office.

Reports WKYC:

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney transmitted the findings of the investigation into the death of Tamir Rice to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor. The County Sheriff’s Office performed the investigation at the request of the City of Cleveland. The Sheriff’s Office received the file on February 13th, and has performed an extensive, thorough and unbiased investigation. It is now up to the Prosecutor to determine how next to proceed.

“As I stated in my briefing on May 12, 2015,” Sheriff Pinkney said, “my department has been diligently working on the investigation. We have concluded our work and I have turned it over to the Prosecutor who will take it through the next steps.”

The Prosecutors office is expected to review the case before making a final determination on any criminal charges. A source close to the Sheriff Department’s investigation told WKYC that their report made no determination about any criminal charges.

We hope the family receives justice.

SOURCE: ABC News | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Cleveland Cops Complete Probe Into Shooting Death Of Tamir Rice, Grand Jury To Weigh Charges  was originally published on newsone.com