A Dallas Police Officer is Charged with Assault in a Woman’s Death
On Friday, June 23, 2017, Faith Johnson, Dallas County District Attorney, announced that a Dallas police officer was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of aggravated assault. The charge is associated with the alleged fatal shooting of Genevive Dawes in January 2017. It has been 43 years since an officer with the Dallas Police Department has been indicted in connection with a fatal shooting.
Johnson announced at Friday’s press conference that her office has a commitment to investigating officer-involved shootings and taking this particular case to trial, specifically. She also said that there was not a second charge against the officer related to a second passenger in the vehicle who was allegedly shot, due to lack of sufficient evidence. The other passenger’s name is Virgilio Rosales.
At the time she was allegedly struck with at least four bullets, Dawes’ family has claimed that she was pregnant; but Johnson refuted that claim, saying that she was not pregnant, based on the evidence.
When the alleged shooting occurred, two officers had responded to a call about a suspicious person. Dawes and Rosales were both allegedly instructed to exit the car, but they ignored the directives. Instead, they allegedly backed the vehicle into a police cruiser, slammed into a wooden fence, and were in reverse when the officers allegedly fired shots that killed Dawes and wounded Rosales.
The grand jury did not recommend charges against the second officer. If the officer who has been charged is found guilty, he faces 5 to 99 years in prison.
–Guest Contributor
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