Sherita Harris has been waiting for over two years for someone to take responsibility for a bullet that hit her in the head while she was a passenger in a car in Jackson, Mississippi.
On Friday, the mother of five received a sign at last.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said that two state police officers have been charged after a shooting that caused a woman to have a partly numb face, lasting memory loss, and problems with her sight and hearing.
“It’s been a long time, and I thought they forgot and would just ignore it,” Harris, 40, said, her speech slow and unclear from the gunshot wound. “It makes me a bit happy.”
Mississippi Capitol Police Officer Michael Rhinewalt and former officer Jeffery Walker were each charged by a state grand jury with aggravated assault. They are accused of killing Harris in a way that showed a serious disregard for human life. Rhinewalt and Walker were also said to have shot at Harris’ friend, who was driving a car. The officers have said they opened fire after the friend, Sinatra Jordan, shot at them during a chase, which Jordan claims.
The charges were made in December, and the state Attorney General’s Office announced them on Friday afternoon.
Lawyer Scott Gilbert, representing Rhinewalt, said in an email that the cop did the right thing by shooting back after being fired at by the suspect. He believes the officer will be cleared of any wrongdoing in court.
Walker’s lawyer, Francis Springer, said in an email that Walker believes he is innocent but cannot make any comments before the hearing begins. Walker is facing federal civil rights charges for allegedly beating a driver during an arrest in July 2022, just a month before Harris was shot. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Justin Smith, who is defending Harris in a $3 million lawsuit against Mississippi officials, said he was surprised by the news since the state Attorney General’s Office seldom charges police officers in shooting cases.
“I’m really surprised that the Attorney General’s office decided to take action and is charging the officers,” Smith said.
The state’s Attorney General’s Office said they won’t make any comments about the case because it is still in progress.
Sean Tindell, the head of the state Department of Public Safety, which supervises the Capitol Police, announced that Rhinewalt is on unpaid leave until an internal review takes place. Walker, he said, left the Capitol Police in July 2023.
Since the shooting on August 14, 2022, involving Harris, the Department of Public Safety has set up an internal affairs section to address complaints about officers separately, according to Tindell. Capitol Police officers now use body cameras, but Walker and Rhinewalt did not have their cameras on when Harris was shot.
Harris does not remember being shot. The last thing she remembers is her friend Jordan saying the cops were stopping them. She woke up in a hospital three days later with her face injured.
The officers, who are new to the Capitol Police and are working to reduce crime in Jackson, said Jordan ran away from a traffic stop and led them on a chase through downtown. Walker said in a hearing in September 2022 that he and Rhinewalt shot at the car after Jordan shot at them first. Walker talked about a shootout that moved into a civilian area. Walker said he saw things being thrown from the car during the chase, but those items have not been found. He said their police car was not shot at.
Jordan has been in jail since the incident, waiting for his trial on charges of running and attacking police officers. He disagreed with Walker about how the chase began, the path it took, and where shots were fired. In letters and interviews, Jordan has said he didn’t have a gun and didn’t throw anything out of the car. He also said that police hit him, and a witness who spoke to NBC News confirmed this. He and his lawyers could not be contacted for a response on Friday.
After the chase was over and Jordan was caught, the police searched the car and found no gun, according to Walker’s testimony. They found Harris with a gunshot wound.
The witness had earlier told NBC News that she heard one of the cops say, “Oh my God, oh my God,” when they found Harris.
Harris said she needed surgery to take out a bullet and fix her left eye and ear. The left side of her face is partly numb, making it hard for her to chew food. She said she has sadness and PTSD. She relies on a helper and mostly stays at home.
Harris said the charges gave her some relief from her pain.
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