For more than two years, Sherita Harris has been waiting for someone to be responsible for a bullet that hit her in the head while riding in the passenger seat of a car in Jackson, Mississippi.
On Friday, the five -year -old mother finally received a signal.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s office announced that two state police officers have been accused in the shooting, which left it with a partially paralyzed face, loss of permanent memory and a damaged view and audience.
“It has been so long, I thought they forgot and they were going to sweep it under the carpet,” said Harris, 40, his speech stopped and swept the gunshot wound. “It brings me a little joy.”
Mississippi Police officer Capitol Michael Rhinewalt and former officer Jeffery Walker were accused of a great state jury for aggravated assault charges, accused of shooting Harris “in circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life ” Rhinewalt and Walker were also accused of shooting Harris’s friend, who was driving. The officers have said that they opened fire after the friend, Sinatra Jordan, shot them during a chase, that Jordan denies.
The accusations were transmitted in December; The state attorney general’s office announced them on Friday afternoon.
The lawyer Scott Gilbert, who represents Rhinewalt, said in an email that the officer “acted properly when he returned fire after the suspect shot him” and trusted that “it would be claimed in the trial.”
Walker’s lawyer, Francis Springer, said in an email that Walker “maintains his innocence, but should not comment before trial.” Walker also faces federal civil rights charges claiming that he beat a motorist during an arrest in July 2022, a month before Harris shooting. He declared himself innocent in that case.
Justin Smith, who represents Harris in a demand of $ 3 million against the Mississippi authorities, said he did not expect the news because the office of the State Attorney General rarely charges police officers in shootings.
“I am surprised and surprised that AG’s office took the initiative and they are accusing the officers,” said Smith.
The state attorney general’s office said in a statement that I would not comment on the case because it is in “active litigation.”
Sean Tindell, commissioner of the State Public Security Department, who supervises the Capitol Police, said in a statement that Rhinewalt had been put on unpaid waiting for an internal hearing. Walker, he said, the Capitol Police left in July 2023.
Since the August 14 shooting by Harris, 2022, the Department of Public Security has created an internal affairs division to manage the complaints against the officers, said Tindell. Capitol police officers now use body cameras; Walker and Rhinewalt did not wear cameras at the time of Harris shooting.
Harris does not remember that they shoot him. The last thing he remembers is her friend, Jordan, saying that the police were stopping them. He woke up in a hospital three days later, his face torn.
The officers, both new hiring in the Capitol Police as part of an offensive against the crime in Jackson, said Jordan led them in a persecution for the center after fleeing a traffic stop. Walker testified at a September 2022 audience that he and Rhinewalt opened fire against the car after Jordan shot them first. Walker described a shooting battle that ended in a residential neighborhood. Walker said he saw objects thrown from the car during the persecution, but that the articles had not been found. His patrol was not beaten by bullets, he said.
Jordan, who has been in jail since the incident while waiting for the trial for charges of fleeing and aggravated assault on police officers, played Walker’s account about how the persecution began, the route he took and where they shot. In letters and interviews, Jordan has said that he did not have a gun and that he did not throw anything out of the car. He also said that the officers hit him, who was corroborated by a witness interviewed by NBC News. He and his lawyers could not be contacted to comment on Friday.
After the persecution ended and Jordan was arrested, the officers registered the car and found no weapon, Walker testified. But they found Harris suffering a gunshot wound.
The witness previously said to NBC News who heard one of the officers exclaim: “Oh my God, my God” after discovering Harris.
Harris said he required surgeries to remove a bullet and repair his left ear and his ear. The left side of her face remains partially paralyzed, and she fights for chewing food. She said she suffers from depression and PTSD. She goes through the help of a caregiver and rarely leaves home.
The accusations, said Harris, brought him a little relief from his pain.
