Latest news with #KrystalRivera
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
‘I need to understand what happened': Family of Officer Krystal Rivera asks for answers as lawyers announce civil investigation
The family of slain Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera is calling for city agencies to relinquish the investigation of her death and, instead, turn over the probe to the Illinois State Police as they pursue legal avenues. The slain officer's parents and their attorney also asked that the city release the body-worn camera footage that captured the fatal June 5 shooting — despite a standing order from a Cook County judge preventing the public release. Rivera's mother Yolanda and stepfather Rico Thompson, flanked by friends, family and staff at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, said her mother needed to understand what happened June 5 to make Rivera the first CPD officer to die of friendly fire in nearly 40 years. 'I need to understand what happened that night,' Yolanda Rivera said. 'I need to know the truth. Krystal believed in protecting and serving with honor. Please honor her. Let this moment be guided by truth.' Her stepfather echoed that thought, asking city leaders to be open. 'We are here asking both Mayor Johnson and Superintendent Snelling for full transparency,' Thompson said. 'We as a family need answers and believe the people of Chicago deserve them as well.' Attorney Antonio Romanucci stopped short of announcing plans for a lawsuit against the city, but said 'we are looking at all our civil avenues of justice' and that some of those avenues were 'very viable.' Romanucci ticked through a long list of questions about the shooting and said they needed to know more about Officer Carlos Baker, whom the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has identified as the fellow tactical officer who accidentally shot Rivera as she pursued a suspect down a hallway of a Chatham apartment building. Romanucci noted six complaints were lodged against Baker in his relatively short career with CPD, including an allegation that he flashed a gun at a woman he had been talking to while she was on a date with another man inside a restaurant. Other allegations included excessive force and neglect of duty, according to records from the city's Office of Inspector General. 'We believe that the warning signs had been there for years,' Romanucci said. 'He never should have been an officer. In other licensed professions, this type of probationary behavior would have been the end of that person's career.' Rivera and Baker, both part of the Gresham (6th) District tactical team, were trying to make a traffic stop on a suspect and chased him into an apartment at 8210 S. Drexel Ave., police have said. Inside the apartment, they met a man later identified as 25-year-old Adrian Rucker, of Freeport, who allegedly pointed a rifle at them. Prosecutors said that Rivera was running down a hallway when she was shot. Authorities late last month charged Jaylin Arnold, 27, with multiple felonies in connection with Rivera's death. The family had seen some of the body-camera footage that captured the shooting, but Romanucci said they still had many questions about how the attempted arrest and shooting unfolded. 'If that event were as clear as what's being portrayed, we wouldn't be standing at this podium right now,' he said. Although an order from a Cook County judge prohibits the release of the body-worn camera footage pending trial for two people who are in custody in connection with the shooting, Romanucci suggested that the order could be modified at the request of CPD and the Cook County state's attorney's office. 'The shooting incident remains under the jurisdiction of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability,' Chicago police said after the news conference. 'The officer involved will remain on routine administration duties.' The state's attorney's office immediately responded to a request for comment. The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled Rivera's death a homicide by gunshot wound to the back. The Tribune has requested a copy of the full autopsy report, though it's not yet finalized, according to the medical examiner. A CPD incident report from the night of the shooting said Rivera was shot in her left flank. In a short, emotional statement, Yolanda Rivera said she would continue to care for her granddaughter as she mourned her daughter, whom she described as 'the light of my life.' 'We spoke every single day,' she said. 'She was the one that I turned to for comfort, for laughter, for strength. There wasn't a part of my world that didn't include her.' Fatal friendly fire involving CPD officers is exceedingly rare. City records show Rivera was the first Chicago cop in nearly four decades to die by a colleague's bullet. In September 1986, Jay Brunkella, a 39-year-old tactical officer in the Rogers Park District (24th), was among a team of officers conducting surveillance on a longtime marijuana dealer who operated north of Howard Street. Brunkella, an 18-year department veteran, and his partner left their post and tried to take the man into custody. With his police radio in one hand and his pistol in the other, Brunkella's partner struggled to arrest the suspect. During the scuffle, the partner's gun discharged and a bullet struck Brunkella in the chest. He died 12 days later, and the drug dealer was charged with felony murder. A jury later found him guilty and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two jurors, however, soon contacted the judge who oversaw the case to say the conviction was wrong. Three CPD officers told the judge that the officer who shot Brunkella had shot and wounded another CPD officer years earlier, the Tribune reported at the time. Cook County court records show the man appealed his conviction to the state appellate court but was denied. Though two men now face an array of weapons and narcotics charges in connection with the shooting of Krystal Rivera, neither faces a count of murder in her death. A Cook County judge last month granted a motion from the Cook County state's attorney's office that prohibits any city agency from releasing materials related to the shooting — officer body-worn camera and other memoranda — as those criminal cases are pending. Similar orders are often entered in criminal cases that stem from police shootings, and those orders are lifted once a case is adjudicated. Matt McGrath, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said in a statement last month that said the motion is standard in criminal cases. 'To clarify, the motion to shield body-worn camera footage in this case is standard and related to the ongoing criminal prosecution of two defendants charged with serious felony gun and narcotics possession offenses — neither of whom is a police officer,' McGrath said in the statement.
CBS News
02-07-2025
- CBS News
Chicago police officer Krystal Rivera's family calls for independent investigation into her shooting death at the hands of her partner
The family of fallen Chicago police officer Krystal Rivera is demanding full transparency and an independent investigation, after she was accidentally shot to death by her partner during a foot chase last month. Rivera's family watched some of the body camera video showing the shooting of their loved one, but their attorney said they were all left with more questions than answers after seeing it. "I'm asking for complete transparency," Rivera's mother, Yolanda, said through tears on Wednesday, expressing her deep desire for a thorough investigation into the shooting death of her daughter. "I need to understand what happened that night. I need to know the truth." Police have said the 36-year-old single mother was accidentally shot and killed by her partner on the night of June 5. "Krystal was a devoted mother to her 11-year-old daughter, and a dedicated public servant. She graduated from the police academy in 2021, and spent the last four years serving with pride and compassion on the 6th district tac team," her mother said. Rivera was part of a tactical team that had done an investigatory stop. She and her partner chased an armed suspect into an apartment building in Chatham. When Rivera and her partner approached that suspect, a second suspect confronted them armed with a rifle, according to police. Rivera family attorney Antonio Romanucci said the body camera footage shown to the family raised more questions for them than answers. "What's been reported is that somebody got in between the shooter and Krystal, right? Okay. That is something that we do not accept as accurate," he said. Romanucci also said, with nearly a month passing since the shooting, more information about the case should have been released by now, including video footage. "It is unusual, because I pose the question that had this bullet come from a civilian's gun, we'd have a lot more answers. The narrative would be a lot clearer. We would know why charges were being filed, why it happened, how it happened, where they were standing," he said. "That's not happening here, and that's why we can't accept the smell test yet, because we're not getting what we should be getting if this had happened in a circumstance where a civilian had shot the gun." The Rivera family's attorneys sent a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling on June 27, asking for an independent investigation into Rivera's death by Illinois State Police, the release of all unedited body and dashboard camera footage, and the full personnel file of the officer who fired the shot that took Rivera's life. Romanucci said the officer's disciplinary record shows six complaints since he was hired in 2021, with one early in his career. "We believe the warning signs were there for years," he said. When asked for comment, Chicago police said the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation into Rivera's death remains active, and the officer involved will remain on administrative duties.
Chicago Tribune
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Effort to require Chicago businesses install security cameras gets pushback
Good morning, Chicago. An effort to require Chicago businesses to install surveillance cameras started with a City Council majority but is now seeing its support wither. West Side Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th, had sign-on from 28 aldermen last week when she introduced legislation requiring public-facing businesses to put in security cameras. But several sponsoring aldermen who say they misunderstood the ordinance at first are now backing away from it. 'It raises a concern that neighbors have about what could become a surveillance state,' said former co-sponsor Ald. Andre Vasquez, who cited federal government efforts to access data. Read the full story from the Tribune's Jake Sheridan. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including why the release of materials related to the investigation into the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera has been delayed, a former Blackhawk elected to the Hall of Fame and what Liza Colón-Zayas and Lionel Boyce of 'The Bear' told us about Season 4, their favorite spots around the city and off-camera culinary training. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding today after a rocky start, giving rise to cautious hope that it could lead to a long-term peace agreement even as Tehran insists it will not give up its nuclear program. Despite his long claims of innocence, Chester Weger lived six decades in prison after confessing to the haunting 1960 Starved Rock State Park murders of three suburban Chicago women who were attacked during a hike in broad daylight. Dubbed the infamous 'Starved Rock Killer,' Weger finally won his freedom more than five years ago and lived a quiet life while making occasional appearances in court to try to overturn his conviction. A LaSalle County judge had denied Weger's post-conviction petition June 18. Just days later, on Sunday, 86-year-old Weger died of cancer, still with the stigma of having a murder conviction staining his record. He died in Kansas City, surrounded by his family, his attorney Andy Hale said. A judge has barred the release of video and other materials related to the investigation into the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, a move that came after the Cook County state's attorney's office asked that the information be shielded from public records requests. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran of the department, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer on June 5 after a confrontation with an armed suspect. Advocate Health Care may proceed with a plan to replace Advocate Trinity Hospital with a new, much smaller hospital on the South Side of Chicago, state regulators decided yesterday, after more than a dozen community members and leaders spoke out in support of the project. More than two years after forming an ad hoc committee to augment affordable housing, DuPage County is taking a new approach to incentivizing low-cost development. The county is establishing a land bank. Authorized by the DuPage County Board last month, it will essentially put county-owned surplus land on reserve for future affordable housing projects. Defenseman Duncan Keith, winner of three Stanley Cup championships with the Chicago Blackhawks, was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday in his first year of eligibility. In addition to forming a formidable tandem with defensive partner Brent Seabrook, Keith was an offensive X-factor for the Hawks. He broke out with 14 goals and 55 assists during the 2009-10 season, when he won the first of two Norris Trophies (also 2013-14) as the NHL's top defenseman. Ben Brown's inconsistency the last two months suggested it was a matter of when, not if, the Chicago Cubs would send the right-hander to the minors to get on track. That time arrived yesterday when the Cubs optioned Brown to Triple-A Iowa and activated reliever Porter Hodge from the injured list. When viewers first meet Liza Colón-Zayas' character on 'The Bear,' she has an icy front — reluctant to adapt to the ways of Jeremy Allen White's Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto, who's trying to breathe new, more organized life into his family's restaurant, The Original Beef of Chicagoland. It's mayhem, exacerbated by some of the longtime staff's unwillingness to see their own potential. But soon, Tina Marrero starts paying attention to the good that can come from being open to change. All 10 episodes of Season 4 are streaming on Hulu and Disney+ today. The Tribune spoke with Colón-Zayas ahead of the new season. Before filming Season 1 of the FX hit 'The Bear,' actor Lionel Boyce was sent to stage at Elske in Chicago's West Loop. In preparation for his role as Marcus, breadmaker for The Original Beef of Chicagoland and soon-to-be budding pastry chef when the restaurant reopens as its titular name in Season 3, Boyce was tasked with learning from real-world chefs to emulate one on camera. Boyce said it was easier to stage (culinary lingo for 'intern') back when the actors could more easily fly under the radar. But that didn't always work in everyone's favor, he laughed. Much like his character, Boyce is mild-mannered, kind and effortlessly funny. He spoke with enthusiasm and thoughtful detail about his training as an actor to portray a pastry chef, staging at restaurants and learning skills and techniques to help launch him into new heights. The newspaper has existed in one form or another in this part of southeastern Kansas since 1880, three years after the town was founded around the discovery of lead in the area. Its current iteration is the result of a 1945 merger between The Galena Times Republican and The Galena Sentinel. Eighteen years ago, Smith was working at an area restaurant when a friend asked if she was interested in a career change. The friend's brother owned the newspaper, then called the Sentinel-Times, and needed to replace the departing editor. She had no journalism experience. Still, she took the job. Read the series:
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bucking policy trend, public access to video of CPD Officer Krystal Rivera's fatal shooting is delayed
A judge has barred the release of video and other materials related to the investigation into the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, a move that came after the Cook County state's attorney's office asked that the information be shielded from public records requests. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran of the department, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer on June 5 after a confrontation with an armed suspect. The tragic slaying of the officer, who will be laid to rest on Wednesday, happened amid long-brewing debates about the safety of foot pursuits and is sure to raise questions about training and officer safety in general. But the court order, signed June 13 by Judge Deidre Dyer, delays the public's access to critical information about the matter, even though long-held public policy since the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald favors timely access to video that can shed light on officer-involved shootings. Though it's not uncommon for video to be restricted from public view while an investigation or prosecution is proceeding, legal experts and advocates for transparency raised concerns about the move, especially if such orders are being sought by the state and granted by judges without a thorough examination of balance between the integrity of the case and the public's right to know how their government is functioning. Multiple legal experts noted that the motion, filed by the prosecutor's office on June 13, referenced federal exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act rather than the state's companion law that would govern it. 'There is a big picture concern that the default role of transparency is being flipped on its head whenever there is a criminal case,' said Craig Futterman, a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. 'I have a fear that these motions are being filed and orders are being entered without a particularized interrogation that was envisioned under the FOIA statute.' In response to questions from the Tribune, a spokesperson for the state's attorney's office said it does not comment on pending litigation. Requests for comment from the city were not returned by deadline. Throughout the past decade, video from police body-worn cameras and other sources has become a critical check on official narratives about police shootings after the release of such material became policy following the murder of 17-year-old McDonald at the hands of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The dashcam video of the shooting captured Van Dyke, who served a little more than three years in prison, shooting the teenager 16 times as he walked away. The video contradicted the accounts of police and led to a rare murder charge against Van Dyke. With the fight over the release of the dashcam video still fresh in the city's mind, the newly formulated Civilian Office of Police Accountability instituted a policy to publish CPD body-worn camera footage and related police records within 60 days of a police shooting. The agency replaced the Independent Police Review Authority after the McDonald video was released in 2015. COPA's policy, though, has exceptions and cannot supersede a judge's order. Experts said they believe the policy to release videos has rebuilt some public trust, but raised concerns about it backsliding if videos are routinely shielded by judges. 'We would be back to the days of pre-Laquan McDonald,' said Matt Topic, a partner at the civil rights firm Loevy and Loevy who litigated for the release of the dashcam video of McDonald's shooting. 'We would be back to not knowing if what police are telling us is true or not.' In a criminal case related to Rivera's death, Adrian Rucker, 25, is charged with armed violence and other felonies. Prosecutors alleged that Rucker pointed an AR-style pistol after Rivera and her partner followed another suspect into the apartment. Prosecutors later charged a second man, Jaylin Arnold, 27. In the motion to withhold release of the video and other materials filed in Rucker's case, Cook County prosecutors argued that the release could interfere with enforcement proceedings and a defendant's right to a fair trial. Futterman pointed out that usually defense attorneys would be the party that makes arguments about their clients' due process rights. The judge's order bars release until 'further order of the court.' In a statement, a COPA spokesperson said: 'The materials will be available under FOIA once the court order is lifted. Until then, COPA is prohibited from releasing them.' It's not clear, though, when and how the order may be lifted. 'Someone would have to incur the time and expense to vacate that order unless we think the state's attorney would move to vacate,' Topic said. Stephanie Holmes Didwania, an associate professor of law at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, said federal and state Freedom of Information laws have 'a strong preference for disclosure.' 'It's designed to allow the public to be adequately informed about what their government is doing,' she said. Holmes Didwania noted, though, that the laws have exceptions, and that law enforcement can have legitimate interests in keeping investigations confidential. She said prosecutors could be concerned about issues like the video shaping the accounts of witnesses who have yet to be interviewed. 'The statute itself is trying to balance these two competing interests,' she said, though she added that Illinois' FOIA statute requires the government to provide clear and convincing evidence to support an exemption from the law. Loren Jones, director of the Criminal Legal Systems Program at Impact for Equity, said that the government should be held to a high standard in overcoming public access laws related to police shootings. 'When there is a case that is as complicated and tragic as this case, I think the standard for the balance that we have to take into account here and overcome is really high,' she said. 'It's important to keep our foot on the pedal as far as ensuring that … our government is being transparent as possible in these situations.'
Chicago Tribune
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Bucking policy trend, public access to video of CPD Officer Krystal Rivera's fatal shooting is delayed
A judge has barred the release of video and other materials related to the investigation into the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, a move that came after the Cook County state's attorney's office asked that the information be shielded from public records requests. Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran of the department, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer on June 5 after a confrontation with an armed suspect. The tragic slaying of the officer, who will be laid to rest on Wednesday, happened amid long-brewing debates about the safety of foot pursuits and is sure to raise questions about training and officer safety in general. But the court order, signed June 13 by Judge Deidre Dyer, delays the public's access to critical information about the matter, even though long-held public policy since the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald favors timely access to video that can shed light on officer-involved shootings. Though it's not uncommon for video to be restricted from public view while an investigation or prosecution is proceeding, legal experts and advocates for transparency raised concerns about the move, especially if such orders are being sought by the state and granted by judges without a thorough examination of balance between the integrity of the case and the public's right to know how their government is functioning. Multiple legal experts noted that the motion, filed by the prosecutor's office on June 13, referenced federal exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act rather than the state's companion law that would govern it. 'There is a big picture concern that the default role of transparency is being flipped on its head whenever there is a criminal case,' said Craig Futterman, a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. 'I have a fear that these motions are being filed and orders are being entered without a particularized interrogation that was envisioned under the FOIA statute.' In response to questions from the Tribune, a spokesperson for the state's attorney's office said it does not comment on pending litigation. Requests for comment from the city were not returned by deadline. Throughout the past decade, video from police body-worn cameras and other sources has become a critical check on official narratives about police shootings after the release of such material became policy following the murder of 17-year-old McDonald at the hands of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. The dashcam video of the shooting captured Van Dyke, who served a little more than three years in prison, shooting the teenager 16 times as he walked away. The video contradicted the accounts of police and led to a rare murder charge against Van Dyke. With the fight over the release of the dashcam video still fresh in the city's mind, the newly formulated Civilian Office of Police Accountability instituted a policy to publish CPD body-worn camera footage and related police records within 60 days of a police shooting. The agency replaced the Independent Police Review Authority after the McDonald video was released in 2015. COPA's policy, though, has exceptions and cannot supersede a judge's order. Experts said they believe the policy to release videos has rebuilt some public trust, but raised concerns about it backsliding if videos are routinely shielded by judges. 'We would be back to the days of pre-Laquan McDonald,' said Matt Topic, a partner at the civil rights firm Loevy and Loevy who litigated for the release of the dashcam video of McDonald's shooting. 'We would be back to not knowing if what police are telling us is true or not.' In a criminal case related to Rivera's death, Adrian Rucker, 25, is charged with armed violence and other felonies. Prosecutors alleged that Rucker pointed an AR-style pistol after Rivera and her partner followed another suspect into the apartment. Prosecutors later charged a second man, Jaylin Arnold, 27. In the motion to withhold release of the video and other materials filed in Rucker's case, Cook County prosecutors argued that the release could interfere with enforcement proceedings and a defendant's right to a fair trial. Futterman pointed out that usually defense attorneys would be the party that makes arguments about their clients' due process rights. The judge's order bars release until 'further order of the court.' In a statement, a COPA spokesperson said: 'The materials will be available under FOIA once the court order is lifted. Until then, COPA is prohibited from releasing them.' It's not clear, though, when and how the order may be lifted. 'Someone would have to incur the time and expense to vacate that order unless we think the state's attorney would move to vacate,' Topic said. Stephanie Holmes Didwania, an associate professor of law at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, said federal and state Freedom of Information laws have 'a strong preference for disclosure.' 'It's designed to allow the public to be adequately informed about what their government is doing,' she said. Holmes Didwania noted, though, that the laws have exceptions, and that law enforcement can have legitimate interests in keeping investigations confidential. She said prosecutors could be concerned about issues like the video shaping the accounts of witnesses who have yet to be interviewed. 'The statute itself is trying to balance these two competing interests,' she said, though she added that Illinois' FOIA statute requires the government to provide clear and convincing evidence to support an exemption from the law. Loren Jones, director of the Criminal Legal Systems Program at Impact for Equity, said that the government should be held to a high standard in overcoming public access laws related to police shootings. 'When there is a case that is as complicated and tragic as this case, I think the standard for the balance that we have to take into account here and overcome is really high,' she said. 'It's important to keep our foot on the pedal as far as ensuring that … our government is being transparent as possible in these situations.'
