An autopsy report has ruled the fatal shooting of Black teenager by a white man a homicide, according to ABC News on Wednesday (January 18). Documents released Tuesday (January 17) and obtained by reporters show 13-year-old Sinzae Reed was shot twice, once in the hand and once in the chest.
Krieg A. Butler, 36, was cleared of murder charges in Sinzae's shooting death, which happened on October 12 in Columbus, Ohio, per a criminal complaint. The suspected shooter claimed self-defense during his arraignment, and Franklin County prosecutors filed to dismiss the charges.
A witness told police officers they watched Butler get out of his red truck, shoot Sinzae outside an apartment complex, and drove off, according to the complaint. Court records also revealed that Sinzae didn't have a weapon during the encounter. Butler was arrested the next day, but what led up to the shooting remains a mystery.
"I'm very frustrated," Megan Reed, Sinzae's mother, told reporters. "I know if it was the other way around, if it was a Black man and my child was white, the Black man would be in jail and my son would have justice."
Channa Lloyd, a criminal attorney, explained to ABC News that Stand Your Ground laws in Ohio have changed to where it favors the shooter, not the victim.
"In Ohio, the self-defense law changed and the legal part of that is the burden changed," Lloyd said. "Previously, if a shooter said 'I shot someone in self-defense,' they had to prove it was self-defense. Now that the law has changed, it changes that burden and shifts it to the prosecution."
Reporters also reached out to both the Columbus Police Department and Franklin County Prosecutor's Office for comment. Police didn't immediately respond to the request, but prosecutors told reporters this on Wednesday: "The matter is under internal review and as such no statements will be made at this time."
Despite silence from law enforcement agencies during the investigation, Reed is going to keep fighting for her slain son.
"I'm going to continue this war, and I will be his voice until he gets justice," she said.
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