Youngkin allocates grace to release a police sergeant convicted of killing an unarmed man

Virginia Vlad Glenn Youngkin, Republican, awarded by grace a Police sergeant fired Just a few days after the officer was sentenced to prison regarding the shooting and the murder of an unarmed man accused of stealing sunglasses.

Wesley Shifflett, 36, was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of reckless handling of firearms on February 22, 2023, killing 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson. He is free from inadvertent murder in Johnson’s death.

Youngkin approved the Shifflett Clemency on Sunday, allowing the officer to be released from prison, although his Certificate certificate They will stay.

“I am convinced that the sentence of prison sentences is unjust and violates the cornerstone of our judicial system – that similarly placed individuals receive a proportionate sentence,” Youngkin said in a statement. “I want to emphasize that the jury has liberated the SGT. Shifflett than more serious accusations of inadvertent murder, a belief for which guidelines for the penalty do not recommend prison or up to six months in prison.”

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“In this case, the court rejected the recommendation of a senior conditional servant and conditional discharge that he had no imprisonment or supervised the test, and instead imposed a sentence in a five -year prison with two suspended and an additional five years of trial,” Governor continued. “Sgt. Shifflett has no previous criminal complaint, and by all accounts, he was a exemplary cop. It is in the interest of justice to be released immediately.”

Youngkin also noted that his grace does not limit Shifflet’s right to appeal to his belief over reckless emptying of firearms.

Johnson’s mother, Melissa Johnson, said that Youngkin’s decision felt like she was confirming Shifflet’s murder of her son.

“Why do we now think that it is necessary to abandon or not consider the jury verdict and think that this honorable and honest judge has not fined in accordance with the guidelines provided to him?” She said at a press conference on Monday. “I don’t know where everyone comes from – if that was because my son was black, or because he tried to steal or because he was not here to defend himself.”

Fairfax district Commonwealth lawyer Steve Descano, a Democrat whose office has persecuted the case, said at a press conference that the governor “scored a face in which it does not belong.”

“If you care about the fair judicial system of Virginia, which is unauthorized by the external influence, Glenn Youngkin just spits your face,” Descano said.

Descano also claimed that the governor was located with a “white officer who was convicted of a crime ended in the murdered brunette.”

During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Shifflett, who was a sergeant with the Fairfax County Police at the time, played reckless when he shot and killed Johnson after a short chase at the foot in front of the Tysons Corner Center. Police have received a report by security guards that Johnson stole sunglasses from Nordstar’s department store.

Shifflett and another officer persecuted Johnson into a densely wooded area near the market center before shot by Shifflett twice in Johnson, who was unarmed.

The former sergeant testified that he had shot Johnson in self -defense after he believed Johnson had reached into the belt after he fell.

A video with a body of reproduced during the trial showed that Shifflett shouted “Enter Earth” before firing two goals on Johnson two seconds later. After firing the weapon, Shifflett shouted immediately, “Stop reaching,” and allegedly cited other officers that he noticed that Johnson was putting his hand in his belt.

Shifflett testified that his “motor functions worked faster than I could have verbalized.”

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Johnson heard in the recording, “I don’t reach for anything. I have nothing.”

Melissa Robey, Executive Director of the We Black Blue Police Proponent Group, said on Monday that Shifflett’s mother called her three weeks ago about her son’s upheaval to ask for help.

Roby, who had previously worked at the Youngkin Administration, said she contacted Shifflett’s lawyers, who ultimately lobbied the Governor for grace.

“Someone has to say” enough enough, “Roby said.” These guys put that uniform every day – they are there for your worst day. When is time to take up for them? “

Associated Press contributed to this report.