Though possibly avoidable, deputy was justified in shooting Sedalia woman: prosecutor
A Pettis County sheriff’s deputy was justified under Missouri law when he fatally shot a 25-year-old woman during a June traffic stop in Sedalia, a special prosecutor appointed to the case said Monday.
While the shooting was possibly avoidable, “it cannot be said” the deputy did not have a reasonable belief he was in danger when Hannah Fizer told him she had a gun and was going to shoot him, according to the prosecutor, Stephen Sokoloff.
When the deputy shot her June 13, Fizer had reached down into the floorboard of her car and raised up toward him, Sokoloff, general counsel for the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services, said in a letter to Judge Jeff Mittelhauser.
After the shooting, no gun was found in Fizer’s car.
Sokoloff made his decision after reviewing reports from investigators, statements from witnesses, an autopsy report and video from a surveillance system of a nearby business, among other things.
“There are aspects of the case that lead me to believe that an alternative approach might have avoided the confrontation that led to the officer having to discharge his weapon,” Sokoloff wrote, “but that is not relevant to a determination of whether criminal liability would attach.”
That determination was made “somewhat more difficult by the absence” of body-worn cameras with audio, Sokoloff wrote. Video from the nearby security system was “not totally clear” and lacked audio, he said.
But other evidence, Sokoloff wrote, supported the officer’s claim that “he was in fear of his safety.”
Fizer’s relatives expressed disappointment about the decision. Frances Gaddy, Fizer’s aunt, said she was “devastated” by the news.
“Every single person I’ve talked to knows this is wrong,” Gaddy, 56, told The Star. “We need to somehow change these laws so that the good cops can be covered and protected, and the bad ones can be weeded out.”
Fizer’s father, John Fizer, told The Associated Press he was “dumbfounded” after hearing Sokoloff’s findings. He said his daughter would have done “absolutely nothing” to draw the officer’s fire.
“She probably did run a red light, he probably pulled her over for a good reason,” Fizer told the AP. “His good reason stopped right there. Seconds later she’s dead. I’m just numb. I don’t understand it.”
Bryan White, the family’s attorney, said Fizer’s relatives remain heartbroken and continue to search for answers.
“They are frustrated and disappointed,” White said. “We believe that this should have never happened, and I think the special prosecutor’s comments about the shooting being avoidable support our belief.”
In a statement, Sheriff Kevin Bond said his office was awaiting the delivery of the prosecutor’s report to complete its internal investigation.
“Our hearts continue to go out to the Fizer family,” Bond said, “and we encourage calmness in the community as we work together to reduce the polarization this emotional and traumatic event has caused.”
The shooting
Fizer stopped her car about 10 p.m. that day between two restaurants near the 3500 block of West Broadway Boulevard. Family and friends say she was driving to her job at an Eagle Stop convenience store when she was pulled over.
The deputy, who has not been identified publicly, said Fizer refused to identify herself when she was stopped. She told the deputy she was armed with a gun and was going to shoot him, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
In search warrants, an investigator described restaurant video as showing the deputy make contact with Fizer before drawing his gun. Fizer, who had been pulled over for speeding and careless driving, is seen moving inside her silver 2015 Hyundai Elantra. Then, the deputy fires his weapon.
The Star has not obtained the video. Such evidence is normally closed to public view during an active investigation.
No body camera or dash camera footage exists of the shooting, as Pettis County deputies are not equipped with the technology, the sheriff has said. However, Fizer may have recorded part of the incident herself.
Because there was no audio with the nearby business’ video, investigators tried to coordinate the time between dispatch recordings with the footage to give a more complete picture.
In the footage, Fizer was seen moving around her car “vigorously” and bending down, Sokoloff wrote in his letter to the judge. She could be heard yelling at the deputy through dispatch, saying she was going to shoot him, Sokoloff wrote.
The deputy could be seen trying to open the driver’s door before he assumed a “defensive stance,” Sokoloff wrote. Just before the shooting, Fizer appeared to be raising up from a bent over position, but she could not be seen when the deputy fired his weapon because of where he was standing at the time, according to the letter.
Fizer was shot multiple times during the encounter. She was declared dead at the scene at 10:34 p.m.
Her family has stood by their initial doubt of the official narrative. It was unlike Fizer, whom family members described as kind and caring, to threaten to shoot a deputy, they said.
The investigation into Fizer’s death was completed in late July by the highway patrol. The case was handed over the next week to Pettis County Prosecuting Attorney Phillip Sawyer, who asked the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether any charges were appropriate.
In his letter, Sokoloff said any loss of life stemming from an interaction with law enforcement is “highly regrettable.” And when that loss is avoidable, “it becomes more so,” he wrote.
“But where the legal standard for justification on the use of force is met, criminal prosecution is not an available remedy to address it,” Sokoloff wrote. “More training on de-escalation techniques, and sometimes just more experience may be what is needed. The recent spate of these types of avoidable deaths would certainly suggest that a reexamination of training techniques is in order.”
On Twitter, Democrat Lindsey Simmons, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler for Missouri’s 4th Congressional District seat, said Missouri “must” rewrite its laws to require an officer “who can take an approach that results in de-escalation and not firing a weapon to do so.”
“If they fail to do that, the officer should be held accountable in a court of law,” Simmons tweeted.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 11:51 AM.
