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Sheriff's Office Wraps Up Tamir Rice Investigation, Hands It To County Prosecutor

Demonstrators last month outside Justice Center (pic: Brian Bull)
Demonstrators last month outside Justice Center (pic: Brian Bull)

The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's office delivered the findings of its investigation into the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice to the county prosecutor Timothy McGinty Wednesday.

The sheriff's office received the Tamir Rice Investigation from The Cleveland Division of police in January after a request from the city.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney said -- in a statement – that “my department has been diligently working on the investigation. We have concluded our work and I have turned it over to the Prosecutor who will take it through the next steps.”

There’s no timeline for next steps in the case for the immediate future.  But the transfer of the case between the two agencies is but one step out of many that will eventually head to a grand jury.

Prosecutor McGinty said previously that his practice is to bring all lethal cases of police use of force to a grand jury. 

Tamir Rice was seen carrying a realistic-looking air pellet gun at Cudell Park in Cleveland on November 22 nd last year, when someone called 9-1-1.  A responding police vehicle pulled up close to Rice, where a rookie officer shot him within seconds of arriving.


Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother (pic: Brian Bull)

Meanwhile, Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge issued a statement that urges McGinty “to act with a sense of urgency and review this tragic shooting immediately.  The citizens of Cleveland deserve swift action. The investigation into the shooting of Tamir Rice has taken too long. Our goal is justice.”

The Rice family and their attorneys have also criticized the time it has taken to complete the investigation. 

Since November, the incident has sparked lively but peaceful demonstrations across the city.

(Story by ideastream's Brian Bull)