Mississippi officers charged in young father's shooting death
Two Mississippi Capitol Police officers have been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a young father during a 2022 traffic stop.
Two Mississippi Capitol Police officers have been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a young father during a 2022 traffic stop, part of a string of shootings by officers in an aggressive push to stamp out spiking crime in Jackson.
A grand jury in Hinds County indicted the officers, Michael Rhinewalt and Stephen Frederick, last month. Rhinewalt is on unpaid administrative leave; Frederick resigned from the Capitol Police in March 2023 after a drunken driving arrest.
Rhinewalt was arrested last week and released on $100,000 bond; his indictment was unsealed Monday. His defense lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Frederick has not yet been arrested, and it is not clear when or whether he would surrender to authorities, nor was it clear whether he had an attorney who could speak about the charges. After he left the Capitol Police, Frederick went to work for the Scott County Sheriff’s Office; it was unclear Tuesday whether he remained employed there.
The Capitol Police are a state-run force that had been largely responsible for security at state government buildings until 2022, when the governor deployed officers to help with spiking crime. The charges Tuesday are the third case in which a current or former officer has been accused of wrongdoing during that effort.
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