FARMERVILLE, La — A grand jury in Louisiana on Thursday indicted five law enforcement officers in connection with the deadly arrest of a Black motorist in 2019.
The grand jury in Union Parish determined that four state troopers and a deputy -- all white -- will face state charges related to the death of 49-year-old Ronald Greene on May 10, 2019, on a roadside in a rural area of northeast Louisiana near Monroe, WAFB-TV reported.
Suppressed body-camera video was released in 2021 that showed the officers beating, stunning and dragging Greene as he yelled, “I’m scared!”
BREAKING: Grand jury decides on state charges against five in connection to Ronald Greene's death. This is a developing story. https://t.co/AS3u33hKG5
— KNOE 8 News (@KNOE8) December 16, 2022
Facing the most serious charges was Master Trooper Kory York, The Associated Press reported. York was seen on the body-camera footage dragging Greene by his ankle shackles and leaving him face down in the dirt for more than nine minutes. York was charged with negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office, the news organization reported.
Two troopers -- John Clary and Dakota Demoss -- were each charged with one count of obstruction of justice, KNOE-TV reported. Former Troop F Commander John Peters faces the same charge. Union Parish Deputy Chris Harpin was charged with three counts of malfeasance in office.
The grand jury began hearing evidence last month, according to the television station. The troopers were seen on body camera video stunning and striking Greene during an arrest after a chase that began in Ouachita Parish and ended in Union Parish, according to the television station.
“I hope this guy ain’t got (expletive) AIDS,” one trooper said on the video as Greene cried out in pain and fear.
The trooper’s remark was part of a 46-minute recording of body camera footage obtained by the AP more than two years after Greene’s death.
Louisiana State Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, who died in 2020, is heard admitting on his body camera audio that he “beat the ever-living (expletive) out of Greene when the pursuit ended, WAFB reported.
In the audio, Hollingsworth adds that Greene was “spitting blood everywhere” and then “all of a sudden he just went limp.”
Louisiana State Police officials initially told Greene’s family, who filed a federal lawsuit in his death in 2020, that he’d died on impact after crashing his car into a tree during the chase.
Post-mortem photos and pictures of his car, however, showed damage inconsistent with his injuries.
Greene’s autopsy also showed that he had neither drugs nor alcohol in his system. Authorities had initially said he was intoxicated at the time of his death.
State police officials later released a single-page statement acknowledging there was a struggle between Greene and the troopers, the AP reported.
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