Un-Armed Caretaker Shot By North Miami Police Officer: 'I Can't Sleep, I Have Nightmares'
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The North Miami police officer at the center of a mixed verdict following the shooting of an un-armed caretaker is no longer with the department.
North Miami Police confirm that Jonathan Aledda has been now relieved of duty without pay. To fire him, the department has to go through a process of termination. The department's police union said they are ready to represent him.
In July 2016, Aledda responded to a call of a possibly suicidal man. When he arrived two men were in the middle of the street.
One was an autistic man named Arnaldo Rios Soto. The other man was his caretaker, Charles Kinsey.
Aledda said he believed Soto was threatening Kinsey with a gun.
Aledda fired hitting Kinsey in the leg, but missing the autistic man.
It turned that the 'gun' was actually a silver toy truck.
Kinsey spoke late Wednesday afternoon following the jury's ruling earlier in the week.
"I can't sleep, I have nightmares," said Kinsey. "It's unbearable. I'm going through so much, to the point sometimes where I'm about to lose it."
Kinsey also spoke about the officer's conviction, saying he's grateful to the jury but that doesn't mean he's not upset.
"I believe they did the right thing," he said. "I believe he shouldn't be an officer. [He should] not be allowed to be an officer anywhere."
Aledda previously rejected a plea deal that included one-year probation and giving up his law enforcement credential, but no jail time.
Aledda's first trial in March ended in a hung jury on the most serious charges.
Earlier this week, a jury convicted him on the misdemeanor negligence count. However, Aledda was found not guilty of two additional counts, both felonies.
"I believe he should've been charged for both," Kinsey said. "He should've been charged for the culpable negligence and for the attempted manslaughter. If you get the definition for attempted manslaughter, it was there. Everything was right there."
Aledda faces up to a year in prison when he's sentenced in the next few weeks.
