A Michigan State Police trooper has been charged with second-degree murder after crashing his plain SUV into a 25-year-old Kentwood man who was fleeing from police.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges against Detective Sergeant Brian Keeley on Tuesday after Michigan State Police closed their investigation into the April 17 death of Samuel Sterling earlier this month and released body camera footage from the crash scene.
“Officer Keeley’s actions that day were grossly negligent as a matter of law and created a very high risk of death or serious injury that could have been otherwise prevented,” Nessel said in a video statement announcing the charges.
Michigan deputy who killed fleeing teen with patrol car not charged
The death of Sterling, a Black man, has reignited anger in a community that has yet to recover from the death nearly two years ago of Patrick Ryoya, also Black, who was shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids police officer while stopping him for a traffic violation. The shooting was recorded on a passerby’s cellphone and sparked protests. Former police officer Christopher Schur has been charged with second-degree murder in the case and has pleaded not guilty.
In Sterling’s case, police say he fled on foot after officers approached him at a Kentwood gas station outside Grand Rapids on April 17 and attempted to detain him on multiple outstanding warrants.
A 15-minute video of the incident released on May 10, which includes body and dash camera footage from three police agencies, shows police chasing Sterling and telling him to stop and put his hands up, before he runs past a Burger King and is struck by an unmarked car, pinning him against the wall of the building.
A Michigan police officer has been charged with second-degree murder after he struck and killed a man with an unmarked SUV.
Sterling can be heard groaning in pain as police call an ambulance. He died in hospital later the same day.
Nessel pleaded guilty to both second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. No date has been set for the arraignment, Nessel said.
Mark Curtis, an attorney representing Keeley, said in a statement that Nessel “chose to ignore the facts of this case and rely on political pressure.” He said Sterling’s loss of life was “tragic and irreparable” but could have been avoided “if only he had complied with detective orders.”
Ben Johnson, an attorney for Sterling’s family, said he supports Nessel’s decision.
Keeley, whose identity was not released until the charges were announced, “was not wearing a body camera due to his assignment with the federal task force and the unmarked vehicle he was driving was not equipped with a dashcam,” according to a statement from May 10. Michigan State Police Superintendent James F. Grady II said in an April 18 statement that Keeley had been suspended.
Police said Sterling was “wanted on multiple arrest warrants,” but did not provide details about the warrants.
According to Michigan Department of Corrections records, Sterling violated the terms of his probation after being convicted in June 2022 of carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm and theft of a financial transaction device.
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Ranking lawmakers in the state quickly condemned the officers’ actions after the video was released. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Sterling’s death “unacceptable” and a “deviation” from normal procedure. She said she expected the state to “take steps to terminate the officers’ employment if criminal charges are filed.”
