An attorney with the Cook County State Attorney’s Office has been placed on administrative leave after he “failed to fully present the facts” surrounding the shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
“In court last week, an attorney in our office failed to fully present the facts surrounding the death of a 13-year-old boy. We have put that individual on administrative leave and are conducting an internal investigation into the matter,” a spokesperson from the office said in a statement to the media.
It comes after the attorney implied in court during an April 10 hearing related to the shooting that Toledo was holding a gun when he was shot. The hearing was for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was with Toledo when the boy was shot on March 29.
Footage from a second responding officer shows a handgun on the ground behind the fence opening where the boy had stopped.
Foxx’s spokeswoman, Sarah Sinovic, suggested on April 16 that Murphy may not have had access to all the videos that were released to the public on April 15 when he made the comments. She told the Sun-Times: “It’s still under investigation what videos were available to [Murphy]. We’re still trying to figure out what he had access to when he made the statements in court.”
Chicago Police Union President John Catanzara characterized the officer’s action as “justified,” as he had less than a second to assess whether Toledo was still holding a gun in his hand as he turned around.
“It is 100 percent justified. That officer’s actions were actually heroic. There is a very good reason he only shot once. Like I said, he could have been shot multiple times, but the officer assessed in a split second. Unfortunately, he committed to the first shot already, justifiably so.”
“There is irrefutable evidence that the shell casings recovered from that location match the handgun that was in the hands of the juvenile when he was tragically shot by the officer,” he said. “The officer had no place to take cover or concealment, the gun was being orientate [sic] in his direction, and he was left with no other option.”
Roman was arrested at the scene on misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing a peace officer but was later charged with felony counts of child endangerment, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and reckless discharge of a firearm after investigators determined that he had been the one to fire the gun several times before police arrived. He then passed on the weapon to Toledo, according to police.
Roman remains in custody at Cook County Jail after a judge ordered him held on $150,000.
