The city of Waukegan on Wednesday released six videos that captured the moments immediately before and after an officer in the northern suburb fatally shot 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette last week.
However, the officer who fired the shots — which also wounded Stinnette’s girlfriend, 20-year-old Tafara Williams — did not activate his bodyworn camera before opening fire.
The half dozen videos show that Williams, who was driving, and Stinnette were stopped by an officer near Liberty and Oak streets. That officer first asked if the two were involved in a recent traffic crash and then asked them for their names.
Both Williams and Stinnette gave fake names and the officer replied, “I thought you were Stinnette. I thought you all were the Stinnette kids, right?”
He then told Stinnette that he was under arrest and ordered him out of the car.
Neither Stinnette nor Williams exited, and the officer shined a flashlight into the vehicle and said: “Show me the hands, pal. I ain’t playin’ with you because I know you.”
“Marcellis, you’re under arrest,” the officer said again.
“He’s under arrest for what though?” Williams asked.
“Because he’s got a warrant,” the officer replied.
Williams then appears to record the interaction on her cellphone, and the officer tells her that his bodyworn camera is also on.
As the officer was leaning on the passenger side of the vehicle, again telling Stinnette to get out, Williams sped off.
The officer called for backup, and Williams’ car was then followed by the officer who ultimately opened fire.
While in pursuit, the officer saw Williams jump the curb at Martin Luther King Jr. and South avenues.
The officer got out of his car and started to order the two out of their vehicle again, but Williams put the car into reverse and started to drive, the videos show.
The officer then fired six shots. Williams’ car continued in reverse and crashed into a building across the street.
The videos — collected from squad car dashboard cameras, officers’ bodyworn cameras and private surveillance — do not show how close Williams’ car was to the officer when he started shooting.
After the shooting, the officer and Williams had a brief and tense exchange, though the two were several hundred feet away from each other.
“We didn’t do anything wrong!” Williams yelled.
“I was right behind you and you almost tried to run me over!” the officer screams back.
Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced last Friday that the still-unidentified officer was fired from the Police Department “for multiple policy and procedure violations.” The Illinois State Police is investigating the shooting with assistance from the FBI.
On Tuesday, Williams told reporters during a video call from her hospital bed that she and Stinnette didn’t do anything to provoke the shooting. She said after the shooting, Stinnette was badly wounded yet still breathing but the only help officers gave him was a blanket.
“They allowed him to die,” she said. “They wanted us to bleed out on the ground.”
A news conference held Wednesday by Antonio Romanucci and Ben Crump, Williams’ attorneys, differed from a briefing they held Tuesday, when they sounded optimistic about getting to the bottom of what happened. Instead, the attorneys said they suspected a coverup that began before the shooting when the officer failed to turn on his body camera as the situation was unfolding.
“It’s regrettable when you have officers who either were not trained properly or who intentionally and consciously made an effort not to turn on their bodycam video so we would see what they did to cause the death of Marcellis Stinnette and horrific injuries to Tafara Williams,” Crump said. “What we saw was just bits and pieces. ... There was no need to use this excessive deadly force. There was no need. It was a traffic stop.”
Contributing: Associated Press
Clifftina Johnson cries while watching her daughter, Tafara Williams, speak to reporters from her hospital bed via a video conference call during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20. Three days after the incident, Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced that he had fired the officer, saying he’d committed “multiple policy and procedure violations.”
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson (back, left), Tafara Williams’ mother, cries as her daughter, Sasha Williams, sings during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson cries as she talks about her daughter, Tafara Williams, during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Family and supporters of Tafara Williams listen as attorney Antonio Romanucci speaks during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20. Three days after the incident, Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced that he had fired the officer, saying he’d committed “multiple policy and procedure violations.”
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Tafara Williams’ parents, Trevor Williams and Clifftina Johnson, talk about their daughter during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Tafara Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson cries as she talks about her daughter, Tafara Williams, during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Family and supporters of Tafara Williams listen as attorney Antonio Romanucci speaks during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20. Three days after the incident, Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced that he had fired the officer, saying he’d committed “multiple policy and procedure violations.”
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Flanked by family members and attorneys, Latoya Johnson talks about her niece, Tafara Williams, during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Family and supporters of Tafara Williams wear matching shirts and hold a prayer circle after a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Flanked by family members and attorneys, Tafar Williams talks about his sister, Tafara Williams, during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Tafara Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson (back, left), Tafara Williams’ mother, listens as attorney Antonio Romanucci speaks during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Family members and supporters cry while watching Tafara Williams speak to reporters from her hospital bed via a video conference call during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson cries while watching her daughter, Tafara Williams, speak to reporters from her hospital bed via a video conference call during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20. Three days after the incident, Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced that he had fired the officer, saying he’d committed “multiple policy and procedure violations.”
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Flanked by family members and attorneys, Clifftina Johnson, mother of Tafara Williams, cries during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Clifftina Johnson (back, left), Tafara Williams’ mother, cries as her daughter, Sasha Williams, sings during a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Family and supporters of Tafara Williams wear matching shirts and hold a prayer circle after a press conference outside Waukegan’s city hall complex, Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2020. Williams, 20, was wounded and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, was killed when they were both shot by a Waukegan police officer on Oct. 20.
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times