No charges for fatal police sessions on mother, child

Independence, Mo. (KCTV) – An independence police officer who shot and killed a mother and child will have no criminal charges.

Jackson County's prosecutor, Melesa Johnson, announced her decision on Friday at 5 p.m. after having met with members of Maria Pike and her baby Destinii Hope. With her announcement, she contained a 16-page letter in which the facts and legal limits that she had considered in order not to submit any criminal charges.

Carrie Lufkin, the apartment manager, was emotionally invested from the start. She saw how the consequences of destiniis love and had other tenants. She arranged a vigil to try to bring comfort, especially for the many children living there. She reacted with uncertainty to the decision of the public prosecutor.

“I don't know how I really feel, right, I'm somehow shocked because I just found it out. But I had these feelings for a long time, ”said Lufkin.

Since that day she has thought about whether the officer should go to prison and asked herself who is to blame.

“I think there were many mistakes that made it,” said Lufkin.

The public prosecutor's argument

In the 16-page letter, Johnson described the domestic attack that brought the police to the Oval Springs Apartments on November 7, 2024.

She described the two officials who found Maria, who held Destinii in her arms in a “kindergarten” in a 5-1/2-foot-length cabinet of the bedroom.

She described how the officers were positioned when Mary, while holding Destinii in her arms, reached a previously hidden butcher knife from the bedside table. She said that an officer could return towards a hall when she pointed to the knife. She said that the officer who fired was locked up in the closet with his back.

She reported that the officer had fired four shots, hit Mary in the wrist, neck, upper body and back and hit Destinii in the head.

Read more: Prosecutor will not be charged with the fatal shootout on woman, child

“We did not come to this decision lightly. The loss of a young mother and child is devastating and tragic, ”said Johnson in a statement. “As a public prosecutor, however, we are tied to an oath to apply the law and analyze facts without being guided by the sympathy that we feel for all those affected. Our goal is to determine whether what was done was reasonable, defined by Missouri Law and not whether it was the best procedure. “

“A deep failure of our judicial system”

The Kansas City Law Enforcement Accountability Project (KC Leap) published a written statement on the decision of the public prosecutor and said they were “dissatisfied”.

The organization said that it checked the full body -cam film material with the family.

“This result is not just a profound failure of our judicial system – it is a failure of our collective responsibility to protect and honor every member of our community, including those with questions of mental health and disabilities,” they wrote.

They also asked questions that Maria was shot in the back.

“It is unclear whether Maria still had the knife in her hand when she was shot and, according to the report of the Jackson County's medical examiner, had an entrance wound in her back,” continued the KC Leap declaration. “These facts, in connection with the behavior of the official who decided not to wait for the crisis intervention team, justify the decision of a court. And our outrage. “

“I wish it just never happened.”

Lufkin agrees to some of this failure. She often thinks about all the things in the moments before the police entered the apartment on that day.

“This baby was in danger. DFS knew it, ”she said, referring to the children's department, which was previously known as a family service department. “You should have brought this baby away from Harms before this situation ever came available.”

She thought about the family of Baby Destinii and if she were in her shoes, she would like an accountability. She also thinks of the officer.

“I wish it had been handled differently, and I know that he probably also had a family that he would also go home,” she said. “And if you have someone who falls to you with a knife, who knows what's going through your head?”

She wonders about the training of the officer and if different rules for the reaction, if someone is in a psychological health crisis, could have made a difference.

“The whole thing is so sad for me. I really wish it never happened, “she said,” and I really wish that people had taken the right steps before it ended. “

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