It’s been two and a half years since a Memphis cop gunned down Jaylin McKenzie, and the mother of the 20-year-old Black man is convinced police planted a gun near his body to support their narrative that her son had shot at the cop first.
After all, Memphis police have refused to release all the evidence in the shooting stemming from a red light infraction despite the local district attorney having already cleared the cop of wrongdoing.
“They said it was justified and they’re not going to press charges on the officer,” said Ashley McKenzie in an exclusive interview with Atlanta Black Star.
She has a pending lawsuit against the Memphis Police Department over the shooting death of her son.
“But we’re still missing all these pieces for discovery, we’re missing the gunshot residue test, we don’t have the pictures, we don’t have the diagrams, we don’t have the recordings, we don’t have the full autopsy.”
The only evidence released to the public is a few minutes of highly redacted body camera footage from two cops, Christopher Jackson and Ericsteven Cook, the latter who arrived at the scene a couple of minutes after the shooting.
The rookie cop who fired the shots, Nahum Dorme, was the closest to McKenzie, but claims he had forgotten to turn on his body camera. Jackson’s camera captures the sound of gunshots but not the shooting itself because he was too far away.
“What I think happened is that Officer Dorme is the shooter and Officer Jackson planted a gun and Officer Cook is the cleaner,” she said. “He’s the one that knows how to clean the scene and makes things make sense so that they don’t get in trouble.”
There is no gun visible in Jackson’s body camera footage in the seconds after the shooting, but a gun suddenly appears next to McKenzie’s body in Cook’s footage minutes later.
“They thought that they could just cover up my baby’s murder and get away with it because we’re not from Memphis,” said Ashley McKenzie, who lives in Atlanta.
“Even Jaylin’s personal property has gone missing. They said somebody picked it up from the medical examiner’s office, but it was never signed out, so they don’t know where his stuff is.”
That personal property would include his phone, which could be potential evidence if the young man had been recording prior to being shot.
Ashley McKenzie is scheduled to go to trial before a jury in August, but said she will likely have to ask the judge to postpone the trial since her legal team has been unable to prepare for the trial due to the lack of cooperation from the Memphis Police Department.
She said the shooting has left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, where she is now visiting three different therapists to help her deal with the loss of her son, whom she described as a very spiritual person who loved music and healthy eating.
“He wanted to produce music,” she said. “He worked on that every day. He had a little studio in the garage and he would go do his music.”
“He was also a homebody. He loved to be at home. He loved being with his family. He loved his siblings.”
“I remember him telling me I was getting sick. One time he was like, ‘mom, you got to go take some black seed oil,’ so he was really into like holistic health care and things like that.”
Ashley McKenzie filed her lawsuit in December 2023 against the officers involved as well as against Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, who took over the department in April 2021 and is accused of lowering hiring standards, resulting in an increase in use-of-force complaints against the department. The lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, states that some of the new cops had prior criminal records, and many were unable to pass basic skills and shooting exams, but were allowed to retake the exams multiple times until they passed and were hired.
Officer Dorme was hired during this period of reduced hiring standards, the claim states.
However, the city of Memphis denied these allegations in its response to the lawsuit.
Ashley McKenzie said she will soon file a new amended lawsuit with more information she has dug up since filing the initial suit.
Contradictions and Discrepancies
It took nine months of stonewalling before Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy issued a 12-page report in September 2023 justifying the shooting by claiming Dorme had acted in self-defense, the mother said.
But the report was filled with glaring contradictions.
First, Mulroy claimed Jaylin McKenzie was carrying an AR-15 while being chased, but on the body camera video, it looks like he was carrying a black piece of clothing or some kind of bag because it was flapping in the air as he was running away.
Second, the district attorney stated that McKenzie fired at the officer with a .45 caliber, prompting the officer to shoot back, claiming in his report that a total of 10 shots can be heard on the video, including a single shot followed “by a succession of nine shots” – insinuating that McKenzie had fired first.
However, only nine shots in succession can be heard on the body camera footage that was released, suggesting only the cop had fired his gun.
And third, even after McKenzie had been shot and was lying on the grass with his hands behind his head and eyes open, still breathing, neither cop made any attempt to locate the alleged gun to ensure officer safety – which is basic police protocol, as we’ve seen in so many body camera videos.
It was not until two and a half minutes later when Officer Cook arrived on the scene that a gun appeared beneath McKenzie’s body, which was within reach of McKenzie the entire time he was lying there, had he wanted to shoot the cops.
Mulroy also pointed out several discrepancies from the officers (while ignoring his own contradictions), including how the officers provided different answers as to the location of the gun during different interviews, stating the following in his report.
Officer Dorme stated that he saw a gun next to Mr. McKenzie. Officer Jackson said in his first statement that he saw a gun next to Mr. McKenzie. However, in his second statement Officer Jackson said that he saw a gun and it was in Mr. McKenzie’s right hand. Officer Cook said in his statement that he saw a small handgun in Mr. McKenzie’s hand. He said the gun was jammed with a shell casing, He could not remember which hand it was in. The Jackson BWC shows there was no gun in Mr. McKenzie’s hand when either Officer Jackson or Officer Cook came upon Mr. McKenzie.
Mulroy also questioned why Dorme had not turned on his body camera and why commanding officers placed both cops in the back of a patrol car for two hours after the shooting, when police protocol is to separate the cops to keep them from concocting a false narrative.
Mulroy also asked why the cops even bothered to pursue the car over a red light violation in the first place.
But those questions angered the local police union, the Memphis Police Association, whose lawyer fired off an angry letter to Mulroy, informing him that nobody gets to police the police except the police.
We believe that you have overstepped your authority and bounds in your letter declining to prosecute any of the officers involved in the Jaylin McKenzie incident. It is the job of the MPD to train, supervise and evaluate police performance, not yours.
We believe you have exposed the City of Memphis and the individual police officers to unwarranted potential liability. Moreover, your letter is filled with hyperbole and speculation rather than facts.
Watch the video below.
The Alleged Guns
The incident took place on Dec. 16, 2022, while Jaylin McKenzie was visiting family in Memphis from Atlanta.
Body camera shows Dorme and Jackson spotting a white Infiniti in a parking lot, which they claimed was “suspicious,” so they began following the car.
McKenzie was riding as a passenger in the car when the driver ran a red light in front of cops, sparking a pursuit through several city blocks before the driver of the Infiniti lost control, running over a sidewalk and into a park.
The four young Black men inside the car then took off running in different directions, but the cops focused on McKenzie, claiming he was wielding an AR-15 when it does not appear to be an AR-15 in the video because the item is flopping like a tool before he drops it on the ground and continues running.
“When you see Jaylin jump out the car, he’s holding something black in his hand, which to me looked like a bag or a fanny pack,” said Ashley McKenzie.
“They’re saying he was holding an AR, but I feel an AR would look a little heavier.”
Jackson continued chasing McKenzie after he had dropped the item, but stumbled and fell at one point, enabling Dorme to overtake him to continue the pursuit.
As Dorme runs down the block and disappears out of sight, nine gunshots can be heard – but the district attorney claims to have heard ten shots.
Officer Dorme said in his statement that Mr. McKenzie turned facing him and fired at him. He also explained that he thought he fired back three or four shots. (It is common for persons involved in shootings to underestimate the number of shots they fired.) When the shooting is over, Officer Dorme stands in the street pointing his flashlight to the area in front of the truck. He can be heard yelling, “Show me your f_cking hands!” and “shots fired!” Officer Jackson begins toward the truck. His BWC still on, Officer Jackson walks along the sidewalk to the front of the truck.
Despite claiming McKenzie had fired first, neither officers mentioned anything about a gun after they had walked up to his body lying on the ground. And no gun is visible on Jackson’s body camera footage.
Mulroy claimed in his report that the gun most likely was obscured by a dark shadow, which is visible on Jackson’s body camera, who was standing on the left side of McKenzie’s body.
Mulroy also claimed that nine shell casings were found on the scene – contradicting his earlier statement that 10 shots had been fired – but said “ballistic evidence” suggested two of those shots were fired by McKenzie.
Two of the most haunting questions in this case can only be answered provisionally: Who shot first and where was the gun? Without the BWC footage of Officer Dorme these questions will likely remain unanswered for certain. However, given the ballistics evidence suggesting that Mr. McKenzie did discharge his weapon, and the absence of any affirmative evidence contradicting Officer Dorme’s version of events, no criminal charges are warranted here.
There is evidence that Mr. McKenzie fired at the officer. All nine casings found on the scene were tested. Two of the casings were consistent with being fired from the handgun found with or nearby Mr. McKenzie. The TBI investigation also revealed a bullet lodged in a home within Mr. McKenzie’s firing line. The bullet was removed, sent for testing but it was too damaged for comparison.
The question of who shot first could have been recorded to provide an independent answer. Unfortunately, it was not. The conflict between the BWCs and the statements of the officers create jarring inconsistencies. Officer Dorme said it was beside him. Cook said it was in his hand. Officer Jackson first said it was beside him and later said it was in his hand.
The first sighting of Mr. McKenzie after the shooting was recorded on Officer Jackson’s camera. No gun was in Mr. McKenzie’s hand. A long deep shadow is along the side of his body so perhaps it shielded the gun butt from Officer Jackson’s BWC.
Missing Gun Residue Test
What is not mentioned in the district attorney’s report is any mention of a gun residue test conducted on her son, which would determine whether he fired a gun prior to being shot and killed, which is standard investigative procedure for law enforcement. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation and explained the importance of these tests on its 38-page Forensic Services Division Evidence Guide.
Ashley McKenzie, who graduated with a degree in criminal justice with plans to go into forensic science, said she had repeatedly asked for the residue test, only to be ignored.
“We had to subpoena TBI four times to get their file,” she said.
“And they made us sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) for a redacted TBI file that is missing a lot of documents and missing the gunshot residue test.”
“If you want to say Jaylin shot at you, why do we still not have that? That would prove everything.”
She continues fighting for justice despite the roadblocks, setbacks, and stonewalling she has faced over the past two and a half years.
Her fight for justice has led her to launch an organization called Say Their Names Monuments to honor victims of gunshot violence, especially from police, where the organization creates ”public spaces, such as memorial parks or statues, dedicated to individuals whose lives were taken.”
“It takes the people to fight the system,” she said. “That’s the only way.”
Great Job Carlos Miller & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
