CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office says they will not be seeking charges against the U.S. Marshal who fatally shot a man during an attempted arrest at a Charlotte gas station in March 2021.
In a letter sent to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Johnny Jennings on Tuesday, District Attorney Spencer B. Merriweather III said his office would decline to bring charges against Ofc. Eric Tillman as part of their investigation into the death of Frankie Jennings (no apparent relation to Chief Jennings). Tillman was a member of the US Marshals' Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force (CRFTF) who, on March 23, 2021 was a member of the force that went to a gas station along The Plaza in Charlotte to arrest Frankie Jennings. Jennings was wanted on several active warrants, including assault with a deadly weapon against a law enforcement officer, discharging a firearm, within city limits, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to the narrative published by Merriweather's office, Tillman and other officers with the CRFTF moved on the Mercedes-Benz car Jennings was driving along with his fiancee, Nayja Johnson, around 11 a.m. The pair had reportedly finished filling up their gas tank when the CRFTF officers moved in. That was when Jennings reportedly moved quickly to the driver's side of the car. Tillman, in his own recollection to investigators, said he and other officers approached the still-open car door to try to pull Jennings out. Tillman says that's when he noticed a gun, later confirmed to be a loaded Ruger handgun, barrel-down in a center cupholder. Tillman recalled shouting there was a gun to other officers nearby while others tried to get Jennings to put his hands up.
PHOTOS: Closer look at attempted arrest of Frankie Jennings
However, the DA's office says Jennings had the car still running and stepped on the gas, moving the car toward another parked law enforcement vehicle with officers still reaching inside. Tillman said he feared Jennings would break through that line as the car crashed, and then saw Jennings try to reach for the Ruger. At that point, Tillman said he fired his own service weapon three times, striking Jennings. The car came to a stop and Jennings reportedly stopped reaching, and Tillman reports he was pulled out of the car so first aid could be applied until Medic arrived on scene. Jennings would later pass away as one of the gunshots went to his chest from his left armpit, and the medical examiner's report included in Merriweather's letter to CMPD reached the same conclusion.
Merriweather's letter to CMPD, who was tasked with investigating the shooting as a third party, notes the CRFTF task force members were not wearing body-worn cameras, and their vehicles had no recording devices. However, surveillance video from the gas station the shooting happened at was collected, and stills were included in the letter. Merriweather's office also released the video online.
The DA's office interviewed other officers who were on the task force, including detectives from other area departments and an officer from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. They also interviewed other witnesses and Johnson herself, who in her statement said Jennings was "murdered with his hands up" and didn't pose an immediate threat. She also said she knew law enforcement officers were approaching them based on the clothes they were wearing and said she ran to be by Jennings' side, but was pushed to the ground and handcuffed by officers, sitting in a police car for about 30 minutes. She also said the gun could have belonged to one of her six brothers. Merriweather's letter, however, said her assertions were disproven by the surveillance video.
Ken Harris, one of the attorneys representing Jennings' surviving family members, said the family was "disappointed" by Merriweather's decision.
"I am still unaware of any threat that Mr. Jennings posed in an imminent manner to anyone involved in the interaction," Harris said.
Harris also questioned Tillman's claim that Jennings was reaching for a gun in the console.
"The other question that we're vetting is whether or not at the exact time of the shooting, Mr. Jennings had his left hand in the air and his right hand on the steering wheel," Harris said.
He added the family hopes Jennings' death will inspire change in how police interact with people in these situations.
He said the family's attorneys will hold a news conference later this week to discuss the family's next steps in the civil court process.
WCNC Charlotte previously spoke with Johnson in the wake of the shooting along with her attorney. She demanded the release of the surveillance video to the public, and made the same assertion to us that she did to investigators: "He was innocent and his hands were up."
WCNC Charlotte also spoke with Jennings' family the day after the shooting. His sister, LaTannya Jennings, had come down from New York that week to celebrate her brother's 32nd birthday; the shooting happened the day he turned 32, and he shared a birthday with LaTannya's son. She wanted answers quickly.
“We want to know. We want to know now, we don’t want to wait, we want to know why now. We want to know, what threat did he give? His son was with him, what threat did he give for someone who wanted to celebrate and do something for their birthday? What threat did he give?" she said.
Kesha Leak, Frankie Jennings' other sister, said at the time it didn't make sense her brother was killed when the mass shooter who killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado supermarket the same week and was taken in alive.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to Ken Harris, the attorney representing Jennings' family for comment on the new information from the DA's office. Harris says he's not convinced.