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Pastors Question Why Police Shooting Charges Took So Long

Jason Stockley
Paladin Justice
/
Flickr

Several members of the St. Louis-area clergy are questioning why it took four years for murder charges to be filed against a former city police officer who fatally shot a suspect.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that representatives of two Baptist organizations, the NAACP and the ACLU on Monday demanded more accountability.

Drug suspect Anthony Lamar Smith was killed by then-officer Jason Stockley in December 2011. Stockley was charged earlier this year with first-degree murder.

Stockley told investigators he fired after Smith reached for a gun. Smith's supporters say the gun was planted.

A video posted by the Post-Dispatch this month included footage from inside the police SUV as Stockley and his partner chased Smith's car. Court documents say Stockley is heard threatening to kill Smith.

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