Princess Blanding (second from left), sister of Marcus-David Peters, and other family members and supporters, lead chants of "Justice and reformation" and "No justice, no peace, no racist police" in response to Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Herring's decision not to prosecute the officer who fatally shot Peters in May. (Photo by Arrman Kyaw.)
Richmond prosecutors Michael Herring and LaToya Croxton announced Friday that police officer Michael Nyantakyi will not be indicted on criminal charges for use of lethal force in the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American man on Interstate 95 in May.
The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney released a 15-page report detailing the use-of force investigation and analysis of the May 14 incident, which has garnered sustained scrutiny from local media, activist groups and family members of 24-year-old Marcus-David Peters, who was fatally shot at close range near the Chamberlayne Avenue exit off I-95 by Nyantakyi, a 10-year-veteran of the Richmond Police Department.
“The sole purpose of this review is to determine whether the use of deadly force by the officer was justified under applicable law, or whether he is criminally liable for Mr. Peters’ death,” the report states in its Introductory section. “Our review is done through a criminal lens to determine whether the matter should be submitted to a grand jury for indictment.”
Peters — a Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus who graduated with honors in 2016 and taught high school biology at Essex High School in Tappahannock, where his sister was an assistant principal — was widely regarded as a bright young man with a promising future ahead of him, and the report contains similar descriptions of him.
Peters’ sister, Princess Blanding, has been outspoken since news of the incident first made headlines, and has held multiple news conferences in the days and weeks since — repeatedly calling for increased transparency and due process from the RPD, City Council and Mayor Levar Stoney. On Friday, she called for Herring, the commonwealth's attorney, to be removed from office.
“And that’s not a threat, because I don’t make those,” Blanding told reporters outside the John Marshall Courts Building. “It’s a promise.”
Blanding has accused the Richmond Police Department of not being forthright with the family on a number of occasions, arguing that her younger brother was enduring a mental health crisis that warranted intervention rather than fatal force, and coining the hashtags #helpnotdeath and #justiceformarcus.
The report does not deny the presence of a deteriorating mental state during the time of the incident, and states the “governing standard of ‘objective reasonableness’ must be applied in consideration with Mr. Peters’ apparent diminished mental state.”
Nyantakyi’s body-worn camera and the Department of Emergency Communications’ footage captured the officer communicating via police radio that Peters appeared to be having a mental health emergency.
The report states that the officer saw the Mercury Grand Marquis driven by Peters strike a vehicle near the intersection of North Belvidere and West Franklin streets, forcing the vehicle off the road and into a tree and sign post. The Grand Marquis then continued on North Belvidere and exited onto I-95, hitting two more vehicles before veering off the highway. At this point, Nyantakyi holstered his service weapon and drew his yellow Taser.
He did not approach Peters’ vehicle, fearing the driver might have a weapon, even after Peters defied his commands to stay inside his car. Instead, Peters exited through the driver-side window on his stomach, feet-first, despite the door being operable.
Peters sprinted toward the highway and was struck by a vehicle during rush hour, flailed on the ground while speaking to himself — at one point sitting straight up and yelling, “I figured it out. I’m living the dream” — before getting up and noticing Nyantakyi.
Peters told the officer to “Back the f--- up,” which Nyantakyi did -- stating later he was trying to maintain distance and stall Peters until backup units arrived -- but Peters told him to “Put that Taser down or I’ll kill you.”
Nyantakyi warned he would deploy the Taser, which he did after Peters continued advancing at him, yelling “Die motherf-----,” even after one Taser prong struck him but was ineffective.
In his interview with the use-of-force investigation detectives, Nyantakyi stated that at this point there “was an all-out fight between the two” to gain control over his holstered weapon, and that he was “wary of engaging hand-to-hand with Mr. Peters because of his erratic behavior, his unresponsiveness to pain, and fear that Mr. Peters might land on top of him,” the report states. Instead, he explained to detectives that he tried to use his left arm to repel Peters.
When Peters continued charging, Nyantakyi fired his service weapon twice at close range, striking Peters in the abdomen 7 to 10 seconds after attempting to deploy the ineffective Taser. Backup officers arrived a few seconds later. An analysis of Nyantakyi’s weapon showed two bullets were discharged in rapid succession. Both were recovered at the scene.
Blanding has argued Nyantakyi should have waited for backup, used hand-to-hand combat, not approached her brother during or after he began acting erratically on the highway and/or used tools such as a baton or pepper spray after he deployed his Taser, which was ineffective.
On Friday, Blanding dodged questions about conclusions in the report that contradict her prior statements to the press and public. Among them is the finding that the toxicology report, which Herring’s office received on Aug. 14, indicated Peters had Ritalin and marijuana in his system at the time of the incident. Interviews with detectives indicate two witnesses testified to Peters’ illicit use of the prescribed stimulant medication in the weeks preceding the incident, with one anonymous witness stating they believe Peters’ “family gathered on Mother’s Day to express their concerns that he was ‘in over his head.’ ”
A second witness admitted to investigators giving Peters a bottle of generic Ritalin in the weeks prior, which is substantiated by texts on his iPhone 7 indicating the same witness suggested visiting a “pediatrician in Henrico County who would prescribe the medication without doing an evaluation.” On the same page of the report, it’s noted that after Peters’ death, “a family member admitted to police that they retrieved the pill bottle and disposed of it,” adding — in a rare statement of opinion throughout the entirety of the report —“We found this behavior inexplicable.”
In contrast, Blanding has repeatedly asserted she had no knowledge of any mental health conditions, drug problems or erratic behaviors in her younger brother prior to his death. On Friday, she passed out to reporters a copy of the three-page report labeled "Confidential" and electronically signed by forensic toxicologist Edward Barbieri on July 2. Blanding told reporters she had to personally pay to obtain the document, which appears to have originated at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania with the description "Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Screen 1, Urine" with a sample collection date and time marked "05/15/2018 10:00," and addressed to the Chief Medical Examiner's office in downtown Richmond. No positive findings were detected, according to the document supplied by Blanding, which tested for more than 40 substances and compounds.
On Friday, she did take a moment to apologize again to the families affected by Peters’ vehicle striking other cars before veering off the highway.
The report also explains in layman’s language the evidence and methodologies taken into account in deciding not to indict Nyantakyi. Among the latter materials is the final report submitted by the RPD’s Force Investigation Team (FIT) — a law enforcement unit standard to most police departments, specifically tasked with investigating officers’ use of force for criminal liability and submitting findings to the commonwealth’s attorney. FIT units do not investigate citizen misconduct, only the potential criminal conduct of officers.
Other materials reviewed by Herring and Croxton include:
- Body Worn Camera footage from Nyantakyi — which RPD Chief Alfred Durham publicly released at a press conference in May after showing the family the footage first — and other responding officers on the scene
- Video surveillance footage from the Jefferson Hotel, where Peters worked part-time security and where he briefly stopped by, shed his clothing on site, and ran out naked to his blue sedan, which ultimately engaged in three hit-and-runs before the interaction with Nyantakyi near the exit ramp
- Video surveillance footage from Essex High School; VCU surveillance camera footage, which captured the initial traffic crash at North Belvidere and West Franklin Streets, catalyzing Nyantakyi’s pursuit for felony hit-and-run
- Witness accounts from coworkers, friends, family, patrons of the Jefferson Hotel and others preceding the shooting; more than a half dozen recorded interviews with witnesses, responding officers (Richmond and State Police) and Nyantakyi
- The Chief Medical Examiner’s autopsy and toxicology reports; cell phone analysis of Peters’ iPhone 7; physical evidence recovered from Peters’ car and at the scene of the shooting, including Nyantakyi’s service weapon; a ballistics report certificate of analysis; 911 calls and radio transmissions.