Retrial begins for former Leavenworth police officer charged in fatal 2017 shooting
The retrial of a former Leavenworth police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter in a fatal 2017 shooting began Monday, the Leavenworth County Attorney’s Office said.
Matthew Harrington was indicted in August 2018 for shooting and killing Antonio Garcia, Jr., 47, on July 11, 2017 during an investigation of a domestic dispute involving a stolen vehicle.
In April, a Leavenworth jury was unable to reach a verdict in a criminal trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, resulting in a mistrial.
His retrial began June 6.
Body cam video
After the mistrial, Leavenworth police said they would release the body camera footage from the fatal encounter.
Harrington’s attorney objected to the release of the footage, saying at the time that it would be “inappropriate.” After The Star filed a motion to intervene saying the public has a right to view the recordings, a judge ruled that footage could be released and police published more than two hours of body and dashboard camera footage.
In the video, Harrington is seen walking up to Garcia as he sits in his parked SUV in the driveway. Harrington had been called to Garcia’s home to investigate a domestic dispute involving a stolen vehicle.
Prosecutors said Garcia had a knife in his lap, but did not threaten Harrington. In the audio, Harrington was heard saying “Put that knife away” as Harrington tried to open the car door while Garcia pulled it shut.
Harrington fired several times into the SUV as he backed away from the car, killing Garcia.
Harrington was fired from the Leavenworth Police Department in January 2018 and charged with involuntary manslaughter in August that year.
In 2019, Garcia’s family filed a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against the city of Leavenworth. The family settled for $1 million.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 11:32 AM.
