The Sunflower County grand jury on Thursday issued a no true bill, declining to indict Indianola Police Officer Greg Capers on any criminal charges related to the May 20 shooting reportedly involving the officer and an 11-year-old child.
The office of the attorney general presented the case to the grand jury, following an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
“As such, no further criminal action will be taken by this office in this matter,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in a statement Thursday. “Pursuant to Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, review by the Office of the Attorney General and the subsequent presentation to the Sunflower County grand jury followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.”
The city’s attorneys, as well as Capers’ have maintained for the last seven months that there was nothing of a criminal nature regarding the May 20 incident.
“Officer Capers is very relieved and is glad that the grand jury was able to apply the facts to the law and reach a correct and just result,” said Michael Carr, Capers’ attorney.
Capers was one of the responding officers in the early morning hours of May 20 to a domestic disturbance call at a residence on B.B. King Road in Indianola.
The 911 call was reportedly made by 11-year-old Aderrien Murry, the son of Nakala Murry, who lives at the residence. Nakala Murry said previously she asked her son to place the call after the father of another one of her children showed up and was irate.
When officers arrived, the door to the residence was eventually opened, and Nakala Murry exited the home. Aderrien Murry reportedly ran out after her, and that is when the officer reportedly pulled the trigger, hitting the child, who survived the injury.
Capers was initially placed on administrative leave with pay, but after the board met in executive session during a June city alderman meeting, the board voted to suspend Capers without pay.
Capers and Carr have been at the last three city board meetings, hoping the board would restore Capers to duty.
The board voted against going into executive session two weeks ago, but this past Monday night, Capers and Carr were able to appear before the aldermen, although there was no motion related to his status when the city’s elected officials came out of the closed session.
Carr is hopeful this week’s development will have some sway with the board.
“He’s ready to get back to serving the citizens of Indianola and Sunflower County,” Carr said. “We’ve always maintained that there was no criminal action ever undertaken by officer Capers, and the Sunflower County grand jury agreed with us. They saw it as well, nothing there.”
Carr was visibly frustrated after Monday night’s meeting, although he could not divulge much of what went on behind closed doors.
After Thursday’s news, Carr said, “We will make the board aware of this new development.”
Less than a month after the shooting, Nakala Murry filed a $5 million lawsuit against Capers, the City of Indianola and others.
She also filed a criminal affidavit in June, which seems to be null and void after Thursday.
Despite that, Nakala Murry’s attorney, Carlos E. Moore, said after the decision this week that he will continue fighting for the Murry family in civil court.
“While the grand jury has spoken, we firmly believe that there are unanswered questions and that the shooting of Aderrien Murry was not justified,” Moore said in a statement. “We are committed to seeking justice for Aderrien and his family, and we will persist in our efforts to ensure accountability through the civil legal process.”
This development comes the same week a judge ruled that the body camera footage of that officer-involved incident be sealed.
The city did release the video to Moore on December 5, under court order, but the courts did agree with the city’s motion to seal from public viewing.
Moore said he is appealing that decision.
