The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.
St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez will make his first court appearance Friday, Choi said.
"Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts of the case it is my conclusion that the use of deadly force ... was not justified," Choi said in announcing the charges.
News of Castile's July 6 death spread like wildfire on social media when his fiancée, Diamond Reynolds, live-streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook. Reynolds' 4-year-old daughter was also in the car when the shooting occurred.
The incident, along with the July 5 fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sparked protests nationwide and renewed the debate over the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
Castile, 32, told the officer he was legally carrying a gun and and paramedics found a loaded pistol in his shorts, but "the mere presence of a firearm alone cannot justify use of deadly force," Choi said.
"No reasonable officer knowing, seeing and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances," Choi said
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