The Associated Press
HOUSTON, Tex. (AP) -- A Harris County grand jury has decided not to indict a Houston police officer who fatally shot a 15-year-old boy last Halloween while working security at a movie theater.
According to police, Officer Richard Kevin Butler thought Jose Vargas was suspicious after repeatedly driving his sport utility vehicle slowly around the theater’s parking lot. When the teen driver stopped, the officer stuck his gun inside the vehicle’s window. When the teen suddenly accelerated, the door frame struck Butler’s arm and the gun fired, police said.
“Officer Butler never intended to shoot anyone,” his attorney, Nicole DeBorde, said after the grand jury’s decision on Friday. “He has known in his heart all along what happened.”
Butler, a 10-year veteran, was working off-duty at the time.
Vargas was one of two Hispanic teens killed within a month last fall in unrelated police shootings. The shootings prompted police to consider an internal review of its use-of-force policies, as well as an ongoing preliminary probe by the local FBI.
Terry Bryant, an attorney for the Vargas family, said the end of the criminal investigation clears the way for them to move forward with a lawsuit against Butler, the city and the theater.
The family has filed a claim saying it would settle with the city for $5 million.
“The family respects the decision of the grand jury,” Bryant said. “They are disappointed with the decision and hope that the civil justice system will provide some measure of justice.”