Should the A.G. prosecute two Capitol Police officers?
Although the Attorney General is prosecuting two Capitol Police officers for allegedly shooting Jalen Lewis to death in 2022 during a traffic stop, an expert witness claims Lewis rammed one police vehicle and tried to run over two officers as he tried to escape.
Capitol Police officers Michael Rhinewalt and Steven Frederick pulled over 25 year-old Jaylen Lewis on September 25, 2022 on Mayes Street near the Fondren. However, the traffic stop went awry as Lewis was shot to death.
Lewis was the best friend of the son of Jackson Pastor Dwayne Pickett. Pastor Pickett went into community activist mode as he led protests, accusing the Capitol Police of killing Lewis in cold blood. Pickett and Lewis's family met with the Justice Department as they lobbied for a federal investigation.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigated the case and submitted its findings to the Attorney General. The A.G. obtained an indictment for manslaughter in March 2025. The indictment charges:
On or about September 25, 2022, in Hinds County, Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of this court, the defendants STEVEN RANDOLPH FREDERICK JR. and MICHAEL LAMAR RHINEWALT, while acting in concert with each other, did willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously, without malice, without authority of law and not in necessary self-defense, shoot and kill Jaylen Lewis, by use of a dangerous weapon, to wit: a firearm, and that STEVEN RANDOLPH FREDERICK JR. and MICHAEL LAMAR RHINEWALT were acting in his actual and bona fide belief that such killing was necessary to protect himself from great bodily harm or death at the hands of Jaylen Lewis, but that such belief by STEVEN RANDOLPH FREDERICK JR. and MICHAEL LAMAR RHINEWALT was not a reasonable belief under the circumstances,
The defense retained retired FBI Special Agent Jeffery Artis as an expert. The expert's report tells a completely different story. Artis reviewed the police reports, autopsy report, witness interviews, and the department's use of force policy.
Artis states Rhinewalt and Frederick were working the night of September 25, 2022 in their marked Capitol Police SUV. The officers received a tip that a white Jeep Grand Cherokee was involved in several downtown auto burglaries. Officers Kevin Swinney and Chauncey Webster were in front of the police SUV in an unmarked vehicle. Rhinewalt soon noticed a white Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped at the red light on Woodrow Wilson. Jaylen Lewis was the driver.
Lewis turned right onto West Street and ran multiple red lights. Both Capitol Police activated their blue lights and gave chase. Lewis stopped at Mayes Street. Frederick and Rhinewalt drove around the jeep to block it from the front. The unmarked vehicle pulled up behind the Jeep.
Rhinewalt and Frederick exited their SUV and approached the Jeep from the front. Lewis allegedly drove the Jeep in reverse, ramming the unmarked vehicle. The Jeep tried to drive around the SUV in front but the two officers were in his path. Artis claims the officers feared Lewis would run them over and shot into the Jeep, killing Lewis.
The police found a handgun on the right of the driver's seat, another handgun in the console of the driver's door, an "automatic assault rifle" in the rear of the Jeep, cocaine, and marijuana. The passenger, Selena Hayes, was unharmed. The drugs are no surprise.
Artis claimed Hayes's statement corroborated the Capitol Police officers' account of the shooting. The report states:
Hayes saw the police car drive around the Jeep and stop in front of it. She did not notice the second police vehicle behind the Jeep. Lewis drove the Jeep in reverse and it struck the police car behind the Jeep. That was when Hayes first realized there was a police vehicle behind the Jeep. That was when Hayes first realized there was a police vehicle behind the Jeep. Lewis than put the Jeep in drive and attempted to drive around the police vehicle in front of the Jeep.
Hayes said she thought Lewis was trying to drive around the police vehicle but was not targeting the two officers. She said he was trying to get away "and it didn't go right."
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Frederick and Rhinewalt claimed Lewis accelerated and tried to drive around their vehicle but they were in his path. Thus they shot before he could run them over. He said the witnesses described the event were similar.
Artis defended the shooting as he argued it was justified. The two officers had a reasonable fear their life was in danger.
The case is still in the discovery phase.
Special Assistant Attorney General Luke Williamson is prosecuting the case. Watkins & Eager attorneys Scott Gilbert and Sidney of the House of Lampton represent the defendant.
21 comments:
So, the new, previously undisclosed details are that the defense found an expert willing to support its case? The allegations I read, if true and completely accurate, are quite serious and I’m not willing to say one way or the other as to what the outcome of this case should be. However, the mere act of finding an expert to support your case is hardly a high or exceptional bar to meet.
Just a waste of tax dollars. He rolled the dice when he put the car in drive and drove towards the officers. Stop making police to be the bad guy. The guy breaking into vehicles and ramming cop cars is the bad guy. Put him on a tshirt as a reminder for the next low impulse control idiot.
Doesn't sound like Hayes corroborated the officers' accounts if she says Lewis was trying to GO AROUND them. The officers claimed Lewis was trying to kill them.
Big difference.
Then again, Artis is an expert paid for by the defense.
Where did you find said allegations?
Got what he deserved ... and the cops did their job ... and don't forget the countless future victims they saved from this little monster
This is why every major law enforcement department in this country is short of officers. Taxpayers better get ready for the $ 100,000.00 patrolman, because these jobs aren't worth the risk.
If a drug thug like Lewis was the best friend of Pickett junior, Pastor Pickett’s efforts need to be focused on getting his son’s life back on the right path.
These stories are everywhere and ridiculous. Obey the law and these things don’t start or end this way. Don’t, and you risk this outcome.
Unfortunately for the defense a car can be a lethal weapon.
Badge cams would be a godsend. The overwhelming majority of badge cams I've seen clear the officer. Not to say there aren't idiots like the one that tried to pull a guy out of his car while he was eating McDonalds in the parking lot and ended up shooting him.
Is there not body cam footage? Why not?
Some of you seem to think that people who are guilty of conduct that justifies killing are the only people who ever get killed by the police. How naive…
Why is the AG prosecuting?
Good shoot, and that's final. One less thug to prey on society.
"automatic assault rifle"? more like "semi-automatic sporting rifle"+fear mongering.
Officers did their jobs. Do NOT try or prosecute them!
I put it in quotes for a reason.
I think this took place soon after CP expanded and they were still in the process of getting such equipment. I said here it would take a year for them to become truly operational.
This is a leftover from the Lumumba administration.
AG presented to the Hinds Grand Jury hoping for a NO bill but got a True Bill. It’s a Hinds jury so …
If you were the policemen and the person in the car had run several red lights , thereby endangering others, then proceeds to ram a car and accelerate towards the you , What would you do? Let him run over you and continue to endanger the public or stop him ? Any person would have shot him. You dont know what he is gaping to do next. He might have opened fire with his weapons in the car. The police are correct. Ty did what any sane person would do. Self preservation.
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