Worthy says police 'acted lawfully' in Hakim Littleton shooting, declines to file charges
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Apr. 7—Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced no charges will be filed in the fatal police shooting of Hakim Littleton last summer, saying officers "acted lawfully," a decision applauded by Chief James Craig.
"Facts change in investigations," he said at a news conference after Worthy's announcement, saying police "were able to refute the false narrative" that Littleton was unarmed when police shot him July 10 on San Juan Street near West McNichols on Detroit's west side.
Police said Littleton, who was with several other individuals walking in the area, pulled a gun and fired at officers.
Worthy laid out her charging decision in a 25-minute presentation of facts in the case, showing still images from officers' body-worn cameras. A Beretta .25 caliber shell was recovered from the scene as were .25 caliber shell casings, she said.
The images showed Littleton pointing and firing a gun at police, who returned fire. She narrated as she showed the images, saying they showed Littleton taking a gun from his left pocket and taking a step toward an officer who was arresting another person.
Worthy said the incident lasted about 10 seconds from the time Littleton pulled out his weapon and finished firing it.
"This all moved extremely quickly, which is why we want to break it down for you this way," she said.
"At this point, Mr. Littleton points his gun directly at Officer A's head and fires two shots while Officer B is arresting Witness 1," Worthy said, repeating herself for emphasis. " ... all of them were in danger."
A third officer returned fire, striking Littleton, who fell to the ground, Worthy said.
Officer A straddled Littleton, who still was holding the gun, which he fired three more times, the prosecutor said.
Worthy said Littleton still had the gun in his hand after he was wounded. She said the gun was kicked away by one of the four officers at the scene after "all the shots had been fired."
Craig said his department fought back against "a false narrative" on social media about the shooting by releasing bodycam footage hours after the incident. Without that, "God knows what would have happened," the chief said.
He said while he supports people's right to free speech and to march for justice, he does not support "criminality." Craig said he hopes the efforts of "misinformation" end now.
The prosecutor said four civilians at the scene backed up officers' account of the incident and that police were defending themselves and others in the area. "This is not a chargeable case," she said.
Worthy acknowledged that "some people" would be unhappy with the decision but said her office had to follow the evidence wherever it led.
"I am never going to charge people unless we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in court," she said.
The incident sparked protests against perceived police brutality; Littleton's family and the group Detroit Will Breathe issued a statement ahead of Worthy's announcement calling for a "credible" investigation into the incident.
Kenneth Reed, director Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said Worthy's statements are "typical prosecutorial speech."
Reed said the officers took things too far and should be held accountable.
"They took it a step further and it turned out to be an execution in our organization's estimation," he told The News.
Reed on Wednesday also raised the prospect of activist groups, including his own, or the Littleton family pressing for a federal investigation into the death.
"That's something that our organization would have to take a look at in light of what happened today," he said of Worthy's press conference.
Maurice Hardwick of the Live in Peace Movement supported Worthy's conclusion, noting it was clear that the police response was self-defense.
"I don't see any brutality there. I saw the young man basically take a shot at the officer first," said Hardwick, who marched for 70 days to protest George Floyd's death last May, which occurred when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.
Hardwick said he wanted to defuse any hostile situations during marches.
"We have to calm down with that (allegations of brutality) because you make a mockery for real brutality when you start throwing out anything," he said. "We disrespect the focus that needs to be done when there is brutality."
Hardwick contends the videos formerly circulated of the incident clearly show what happened, "the same way we see when the officer murdered George Floyd."
"You don't have to have a trial to see what happened," Hardwick said of Floyd's death. "I follow the truth."
Shortly after the shooting of Littleton, Detroit police released video footage showing Littleton, 20, pointing and firing a gun at officers, but Detroit Will Breathe disputes the department's account of the incident.
"Detroit Police Chief James Craig has attempted from the start to absolve his officers from any wrongdoing, regardless of the facts," the statement issued Wednesday morning from the Littleton family and Detroit Will Breathe said. "Craig claims that the initial release of body cam footage vindicated his officers when in fact, it took less than a week for activists and a journalist to conduct a walkthrough that clearly showed Hakim was detained before the fatal shot was fired. The truth is, if Hakim had been white and this was Grosse Pointe, he would have been apprehended rather than killed.
"We demand a credible investigation into the actions of the Detroit Police Department," the statement concluded. This injustice will not go uncontested. Hakim's life matters."
The family and Detroit Will Breathe have scheduled a news conference at 2 p.m. at Six Mile and San Juan, not far from where Littleton was shot to death.
"As far as the Littleton family, we all know it (the decision) won't be received well by them," Reed said. "The greater community in the San Juan and McNichols area are still shaken by it and I don't think they will receive it well also."
Police said Littleton, who was with several other individuals walking in the area, pulled a gun and fired at officers.
Protests erupted shortly after the shooting and Craig released video footage of the incident. The video, taken from an officer's body camera, shows Littleton pull a gun from his shorts pocket and fire two shots from about two feet away from a police officer who was part of a crew of other cops that was at McNichols and San Juan investigating a July 5 mass shooting in which three people were killed and five others wounded.
"There was a false narrative being put out that we shot (Littleton) while he was on the ground," Craig said at the time. "So we released the video, which poked holes in that narrative."
The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office backed up Craig's statement in its autopsy report. It ruled Littleton's death a homicide, the result of four gunshot wounds — one in the head, two in the right thigh, and one in the left thigh.
Chief Medical Examiner Carl Schmidt's report said Littleton was shot in the back of the head; the bullet went through his brain and lodged in his scalp, where it was recovered.
"There was no evidence of close range fire on the skin and around the entrance wounds," Schmidt wrote.
A toxicology report, which was part of the autopsy, showed Littleton had marijuana and alcohol in his system when he died. His blood-alcohol level was .016.
Littleton's family has said the shooting was unjustifiable. Littleton was employed, said his grandfather, and worked at a local party store while he was waiting on his mother to reopen her own convenience store, where he was a manager.
In a statement following the shooting, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said police footage demonstrated that the officers' actions were justified.
"The video is clear that the officer was suddenly and unexpectedly fired upon," he said. "I commend Chief Craig for moving so quickly to release the video publicly."
State Rep. LaTanya Garrett, D-Detroit, called last July for "an independent and transparent investigation" into the shooting of Littleton.
"Although I applaud Detroit Police Chief James Craig for releasing the dashcam and bodycam video for the public to review, there is no need for a rush to judgment, for a life has been lost and (lives) will be forever changed from this tragic event," she said.
