COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — An El Paso County grand jury has concluded that the two Colorado Springs police officers involved in the shooting death of De’Von Bailey were legally justified, El Paso County District Attorney Dany May announced Wednesday.
Bailey, 19, was shot by officers on Aug. 3, after police had responded to a report of a robbery in a Colorado Springs neighborhood. Two officers arrived and found Bailey and another man and told the two that they matched the description of the robbery suspects.
As one officer approached Bailey to search for a weapon, Bailey took off running. The officers then fired at least eight shots at Bailey as he ran away, striking him three times in the lower back and once in the arm.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
The two officers who fired shots at Bailey were Sgt. Alan Vant'Land and officer Blake Evenson. The officers were placed on administrative leave after the shooting, but both returned to duty after the El Paso County Sheriff's Office completed its investigation and submitted its findings to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office.
The case was referred to the grand jury in October following weeks of calls for an independent investigation.
Mari Newman, an attorney for the Bailey family, provided Denver7 the following statement after the grand jury's decision was announced:
"We are not one bit surprised. This is the exact outcome you would expect when you have a tainted investigation presented by a biased prosecutor. This is the precise reason we've been calling for an independent prosecutor from the beginning. When the system refuses to police themselves, citizens need to stand up for their constitutional rights."
This is a developing story.