A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted Boston Police officer Nicholas O’Malley, 34, on a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the March 11 shooting death of Stephenson King Jr., 39, of Dorchester, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Wednesday.
The indictment was returned in Suffolk Superior Court, where O’Malley will be arraigned on a date that has not yet been scheduled. The case now moves out of Roxbury Municipal Court, where O’Malley had initially been charged.
According to prosecutors, O’Malley and another officer were responding to a reported carjacking when they encountered King sitting inside the stolen vehicle on Linwood Square in Roxbury. The Commonwealth alleges that O’Malley shot King without legal justification after King backed the vehicle into an unoccupied police cruiser and began driving away.
O’Malley has claimed that he feared the second officer was in danger of being struck by the vehicle, but prosecutors say that assertion is contradicted by other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Earlier today, prosecutors say they met with King’s family to update them on the status of the case and to show them police body camera footage of the fatal encounter, according to a statement from DA Kevin Hayden’s office. The prosecution team said it also contacted the victim of the earlier carjacking.
The shooting drew widespread public attention and renewed scrutiny of Boston police use-of-force policies.
Ben Crump, Jr., an attorney representing King’s family, said the indictment “sends a powerful message about the seriousness of this case.”
“This family knows that accountability cannot stop here. They deserve the full truth about what happened to Stephenson and a justice system willing to fully examine every decision that led to his death. We will continue standing beside them and demanding transparency, truth and justice every step of the way,” Crump said.
