DA to announce whether troopers will be charged
Fayette County District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon will announce today whether or not she will file charges against two state police troopers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe. Vernon will do so at a press conference at 1 p.m. in the county’s public safety building.
Her decision comes four days after a panel of coroner’s jurors ruled that trooper Samuel Nassan was justified in shooting Ellerbe as he fled from Nassan and trooper Juan Curry on Christmas Eve. Nassan said he fired on Ellerbe, hitting him the back, while laboring under the belief that the young boy shot Curry.
According to testimony at a coroner’s inquest earlier this week, the two troopers were chasing Ellerbe after he crashed a stolen Ford Bronco II into a fence in Uniontown’s East End. Nassan trained his gun on the boy when the troopers first saw him in the stolen vehicle, shouting commands for him to exit the vehicle.
Ellerbe instead fled. When he crashed the SUV, Nassan again shouted commands for him to exit the vehicle, but Ellerbe ran from the troopers on foot. Nassan and Curry gave chase, and both testified that Ellerbe ran sideways with his hand in his right pocket, arousing suspicion that he might be armed, according to testimony.
When Nassan tried to cut the boy off but hit a dead end, Curry followed behind Ellerbe. The boy climbed a fence into a Cleveland Avenue yard, and Curry followed, his gun drawn.
According to testimony, as he climbed the fence, something caused Curry’s gun to discharge and Nassan, believing Curry had been shot, fired at Ellerbe. The bullet pierced Ellerbe’s heart and he died a short time after the 2:15 p.m. shooting.
Police checked Ellerbe’s right pocket after his death and found Pokemon cards, pocket change and a pocket knife.
No one has been able to explain exactly why Curry’s gun discharged, although he and his attorney said that the trigger might have gotten caught on the top of the 4-foot fence as he climbed in pursuit of Ellerbe. An expert hired by Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly also said that the force of the grip in the hand Curry used to climb the fence may have transferred to his gun hand, causing an accidental discharge.
The decision comes at the end of an emotional week for all involved in the shooting. Those close to the Ellerbe family have called the inquest a less-than-forthright process intended only to protect police. Family attorney Joel Sansone accused Reilly of “aiding and abetting” a cover-up on behalf of the state police troopers. They were also upset that no blacks were on the coroner’s inquest jury. Ellerbe and Curry are black. Nassan is white. They added that if Ellerbe had been white he never would have been shot.
Sansone, who represents the family along with civil rights attorney Geoffrey Fieger, has said a lawsuit in Ellerbe’s death should be filed today or early next week.