Minnesota cop charged with manslaughter in Castile death

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota police officer has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after prosecutors determined he acted unreasonably when he shot and killed Philando Castile, a black man whose girlfriend streamed the gruesome aftermath of the fatal shooting live on Facebook, prosecutors announced today.

St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez shot the 32-year-old Castile during a July 6 traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, was in the car along with her young daughter at the time. The woman said Castile was shot several times while reaching for his ID after telling Yanez he had a gun permit and was armed.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, whose office will prosecute the case, said Yanez shot Castile seven times "in rapid succession" and that the evidence shows Castile was calm and complied with the officer's requests after he was pulled over.

Prosecutors believe Castile never tried to pull his handgun from his pocket, Choi said, adding that as Castile was dying, he moaned and uttered his final words: "I wasn't reaching for it."

The fatal shootings of black men and boys by police officers have come under heightened scrutiny since the 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. No charges were filed against the officer in that case, but Brown's death led to calls nationwide for officers to be held criminally responsible.

Choi said in Castile's case that the officer's unreasonable fear did not justify his use of deadly force.

"No reasonable officer, knowing, seeing and hearing what officer Yanez did at the time, would've used deadly force under these circumstances," Choi said. If convicted of second-degree manslaughter, Yanez could face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.