Suburban Chicago police officer charged with murder in 2020 fatal shooting of Black man
Prosecutors said it had unsealed grand jury indictments against former Waukegan police Officer Dante Salinas in the shooting that killed Marcellis Stinnette and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. — A former suburban Chicago police officer who was fired after he shot into a car two years ago, killing a Black man and seriously wounding the man’s girlfriend, has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, authorities announced on Thursday.
Marcellis Stinnette.change.orgIn a news release, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office said it had unsealed grand jury indictments against former Waukegan police Officer Dante Salinas in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting that killed a 19-year-old local man, Marcellis Stinnette, and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams. Salinas also was indicted on felony counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and official misconduct.
On the night of the shooting, another Waukegan officer stopped the couple’s car and was questioning them when Williams suddenly drove off, according to investigators. The officer pursued them and Salinas responded to his call for help and joined the chase.
Williams drove off a roadway and crashed, then put her car in reverse in an attempt to leave the area, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office said in a news release Thursday.
Salinas had climbed out of his squad car and was not in the path of Williams’ car but he “fired several shots into the driver’s side of the vehicle as it continued to reverse past him,” according to the news release.
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