Fatal shooting of Black teenager ruled as homicide after white gunman claimed self-defense
Sinzae Reed was shot twice in October outside an Ohio apartment complex
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An autopsy report has determined that the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Black boy by a white man in Columbus, Ohio, was a homicide.
This information arrives months after the charges against the accused shooter, who claimed he shot the child in self-defense, were dropped.
The report from the Franklin County coroner’s office released on Tuesday revealed that Sinzae Reed suffered two gunshot wounds, one to the chest and one to the hand, on 12 October, 2022. Homicide is one of five determinations used to determine the manner of a person’s death, and a coroner’s determination of homicide does not necessarily mean a crime has been committed.
A witness described seeing 36-year-old Krieg Butler, who is white, exit his truck outside an apartment complex and fire at the teenager before driving away, according to a police complaint. Mr Butler initially faced a single charge of murder and was held on $1m bond, but the charges were dismissed several days later. Investigators claimed during Mr Butler’s arraignment that the shooting was in self-defense.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Mike McAllister accepted the motion and dismissed the case, effectively dropping Mr Butler’s bond and allowing his release from jail.
County prosecutors said in a statement this month that the case remains “under review for potential presentation to the Grand Jury as evidence is gathered and reviewed.”
The autopsy report found that Sinzae was struck on his right wrist, and a bullet was found lodged in his wrist. Another shot struck him on the right side of his chest, damaging his heart and a lung before exiting through his back, according to the report.
Both wounds show that bullets’ trajectory struck him from the front, the report found, dispelling online rumors that he was shot from the back.
Sinzae’s mother Megan Reed told ABC News earlier this month that she will “continue this war” for justice for her son will be “his voice until he gets justice.”
“I’m very frustrated because 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,” she said.
She also told Ohio’s WBNS-TV that “he’s still a baby whether he had teen behind his year or not, he’s still a baby and my baby had a lot of years left.”
Following a wave of national interest in the case, the child’s family demanded the removal of Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack from the case and for federal prosecutors to intervene and prosecute Mr Butler for a hate crime.
According to the family’s obituary, Sinzae – or “Zay, as he liked to be called” – loved listening to music, playing video games and hanging out with his friends and family.