Indianola Police Sgt. Greg Capers has been reinstated to the Indianola Police Department, effective immediately.
Thursday night’s 4-1 vote by the Indianola Board of Aldermen comes one week after a Sunflower County grand jury issued a no true bill, declining to indict the officer in the May 20 shooting of 11-year-old Aderrien Murry.
The board had its regular meeting on Thursday night of this week, due to next Monday falling on Christmas Day.
Capers was one of the responding officers during the 4 a.m. hour of May 20 to a domestic disturbance call at a residence on B.B. King Road. Nakala Murry would eventually exit the home, and Aderrien Murry reportedly ran after her, and that is when Capers reportedly pulled the trigger, shooting the child. Aderrien Murry did survive the shooting, and he reportedly suffered a collapsed lung and a lacerated liver.
Nakala Murry, the child’s mother, subsequently filed a $5 million civil lawsuit against Capers, the city and others.
Capers had been on suspension without pay since June.
Ward 2 Alderman Darrell Simpson made the motion to reinstate Capers after about a 15-minute executive session, which took place early during the meeting.
Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder made a subsidiary motion to terminate Capers effective immediately for “performance and liability to the city.”
That motion died for a lack of a second.
On the original motion, Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi (offering a second to the original motion), Ward 3 Alderman Ruben Woods and Ward 5 Alderman Sam Brock Jr. all voted yes with Simpson. Elder was the lone no vote.
“It was solemn. It was serious,” Capers’ attorney Michael Carr told The Enterprise-Tocsin after the meeting. “He (Capers) understands that reinstatement doesn’t change the fact that an 11-year-old kid got shot."
As with last week’s grand jury decision, Murry family attorney Carlos Moore vowed on Thursday night to continue to fight the case in civil court.
“We acknowledge the city's decision to reinstate Officer Capers to the Indianola police force,” Moore said in a written statement after the meeting. “This decision, however, does not deter our resolve for justice in the case of young Aderrien Murry. Our commitment remains steadfast in seeking accountability and justice on behalf of the Murry family.”
Prior to the vote to enter executive session on Thursday, Elder made a motion for the city to release the body camera footage of the shooting incident “in its entirety.”
The video footage is under seal by court order, but Elder argued the judge’s order did not apply to the board.
Board Attorney Kimberly Merchant said it was her legal opinion that it did.
The motion died for a lack of a second.
After the board voted to enter into closed session, Sunflower County NAACP President Charles Modley asked to address the board, most members of which had already left the room.
“You can bring them back in,” Modley said.
“I can, but I’m not,” Mayor Ken Featherstone said. “We’ll be here all night.”
That did not stop Modley, during the interim, from addressing Capers directly, who was sitting across the room with his attorney.
“We don’t want you back,” Modley said. “The citizens have spoken. We don’t want you back.”
Nakala Murry and Aderrien Murry were both present as the two have been for many board meetings since the May incident. She was apparently live streaming the meeting on social media, and she eventually began to address Capers as well.
Emotions ran high, as the two were just feet apart, prompting attorney Carr to stand up to try and put a stop to the outburst.
Aderrien Murry soon became emotional as well, and he and his mother were eventually escorted out of the building.
Moore said Aderrien Murry suffered a serious medical event, prompting an ambulance to be called.
“Furthermore, it is with deep concern we report that Aderrien Murry suffered an anxiety attack during the meeting which resulted in him bleeding from his mouth and nose,” Moore said in a statement. “An ambulance was required at the scene to stabilize his condition. This unfortunate incident only underscores the deep, ongoing trauma that Aderrien and his family are experiencing.”
After the meeting, Carr said that he feels for Nakala Murry, but he reiterated that his client was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
“The fact that an awful thing happened, and a child got shot, that can exist in the same vein as no crime and no constitutional violation, and that’s going to be hard for people to wrap their head around because of the innocence of the child in this case being 11,” Carr said. “There really is a different story that’s going to come out. I really can’t say it any other way.”
Moore said in his statement that he is disappointed in the board’s decision not to release the body cam footage, and he said he views “this decision as a setback in our pursuit of full transparency and accountability.”
“"These recent developments, while challenging, only strengthen our resolve,” Moore said. “We continue to believe that there are unanswered questions and that the shooting of Aderrien Murry was not justified. We will persist in our efforts to ensure accountability, justice and transparency through the civil legal process.”
As for Capers, the decision of when and in what capacity he will return to the force lies in the hands of IPD Chief Ronald Sampson, who offered no public comment after the meeting.
“He’s looking forward to getting back (to) serving,” Carr said. “We’ll make contact with the chief tomorrow and see what position the chief believes Sgt. Capers should be placed at that would be the most use to the city and go back (to work) from there. Sgt. Capers has been a long time without work, seven months. That’s a very long time for a police officer with no other real source of income. He’s ready to get back and try to get back to where he was before this happened.”
