ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Wednesday.
St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez is a member of the MN chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association. Yanez is the Minnesota officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic July 6.
St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez will make a first court appearance Friday, Choi said.
News of Castile’s July 6 death spread like wildfire on social media when his fiancée, Diamond Reynolds, live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook Live.
In the live-stream, she says the officer had pulled Castile over for a broken tail light, and that he had told the officer that he had a gun and a concealed-carry permit.
She said the officer asked for Castile’s license and registration and as he reached for his wallet, the officer shot him. The officer says in the video that he had “told him not to reach for it.”
Choi said Yanez fired seven rounds into the car.
The incident, along with the July 5 fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sparked protests nationwide and renewed the debate over the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
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