A U.S. Park Police officer will not face charges for fatally shooting a 17-year-old boy who was sleeping in his car last year when he was startled awake by officers entering the vehicle before one of them unloaded six shots into his back.
Following a review of the March 18, 2023, shooting death of Dalaneo Martin in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue charges against the U.S. Park Police officer involved.
On the night of the shooting, officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle.
Upon arrival, they discovered Martin asleep in the driver’s seat of a car they suspected was stolen earlier that month. The engine was running, and the ignition had been damaged, according to authorities.
From there, a Park Police officer quietly entered the back seat while others attempted to subdue Martin in the front.
After a brief struggle, Martin drove off with the officer still in the back. The officer pulled his gun, then yelled for Martin to stop before firing several shots that killed the driver and sent the vehicle careening into a house.
Martin was later pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy later found he’d been shot a total of six times.
During a news conference earlier this year, Martin’s mother, Terra Martin, called for murder charges to be filed against the officers involved, who have never been publicly identified.
“I don’t eat, I don’t sleep and justice needs to be served,” she said, according to USA Today.
“This decision is deeply troubling and sends a disturbing message to our community that it is okay for officers to use deadly force against children in the community,” Martin family’s attorney, Andrew O. Clarke, said in a statement. “Dalaneo never posed a direct threat to the officer’s safety or to others in the vicinity. Yet, seconds later, he paid the ultimate price in an encounter that never should have ended in the use of lethal force.”
Additional Metropolitan Police officers, along with two U.S. Park Police officers, arrived at the scene to help detain Martin. Body camera footage captured the group discussing how to safely remove Martin from the vehicle.
According to the footage, the officers surrounded the car from both sides and entered the vehicle in an attempt to restrain Martin. During the struggle, one officer fell to the ground on the driver’s side as Martin accelerated, with a Park Police officer still in the back seat.
“Stop, man, just let me out. Let me go!” the officer yells while Martin keeps driving. “Stop. Stop, or I’ll shoot!”
Seconds later, the officer shot Martin in the back several times while the car veered off of the road.
Bullets struck Martin in his upper back near his neck. The police performed CPR on Martin, but he never regained consciousness.
Last year, the Park Police Union defended the actions of the officer who opened fire. Union chairman Kenneth Spencer said that the shooting of Martin was justified.
Shortly after the shooting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia launched a civil rights investigation in April 2023. On Nov. 7, the office issued a statement concluding there was insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal, civil rights, or criminal charges in the District of Columbia.
“After a careful, thorough, and independent review of the evidence, federal prosecutors have found insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the United State Park Police Officer is criminally liable for Mr. Martin’s death,” the statement said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office remains committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will continue to devote the resources necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are investigated fully and completely.”
