Officer Cleared In 2010 Deadly Shooting Of Unarmed Man
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It's taken more than a year, but prosecutors have cleared Miami Police officer Reynaldo Goyos of any criminal act when he shot and killed Travis McNeil, who was unarmed, in Little Haiti in February 2011, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.
The final report from prosecutors found that Officer Goyos was legally justified in shooting McNeil. Miami Police said McNeil, 28, reached down into his car during the traffic stop at 11 p.m. and Goyos believed he was reaching for a weapon.
Family members said McNeil and his 30-year-old cousin Kareem Williams were both shot by police after they were pulled over by an unmarked police unit after they left the "Take One Lounge." According to family, Travis died of a gunshot wound to the head. Kareem has a wound to the arm, back and abdomen.
According to the Herald, no weapon was found in McNeil's car. Prosecutors said McNeil was likely reaching for a cell phone that had fallen from his lap, the state attorney's office said in its report via the Herald.
Prosecutors found that a manslaughter prosecution wasn't likely to succeed because the state couldn't disprove that Goyos wasn't in fear for his life at the time of the shooting.
The shooting angered many activists and was the last of seven deadly police shootings of black men in Miami's inner city in just seven months. All of the shootings happened under the watch of former police chief Miguel Exposito and all but two of the men were armed, according to the Herald.
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