CLEVELAND — Two Cleveland police officers are scheduled for a pre-disciplinary hearing in front of Cleveland’s Chief Director of Public Safety, Wayne Drummond on Friday.
Officers Dylan O’Donnell and Amanda Rock are accused of violating department policies during their response to a shooting involving Antwoina Carter that occurred last year.
The officers face possible suspension or even termination.
On March 17, 2024, Antwoina Carter was driving near her home on East 105th Street near Garfield Avenue. Surveillance video showed a person leaning out of a car that was following Carter and firing shots.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said the shooter, later identified as Christopher Stinson, fired 20 rounds at Carter, striking her once in the back.
Carter, fleeing the gunfire, turned down the street where she lived. Officers O’Donnell and Rock fired their service guns at Carter’s vehicle as it sped toward them. Carter’s vehicle later crashed.
Carter was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The officers were already at Carter’s home investigating an unrelated "domestic violence disturbance" where a window to a car parked in the driveway was reportedly shot out.
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In March, I reported that Stinson and two others, Lashuwndre Coleman and Trinity Ford, took plea deals in the case.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office explained in a final determination letter why it cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Cuyahoga County Forensic Science Lab determined that the fatal shot did not come from either officer’s firearms, and the officers' use of non-fatal deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances, citing the combination of gunshots heard and Antwoina’s car speeding toward the officers in an erratic manner.
I’ve spoken to Carter’s family several times.
In March, days before the one-year anniversary of her daughter’s death, Latrice Carter told me she thinks officers were too quick to fire shots and perhaps could have saved her daughter’s life.
“There's nothing, no one can do to bring my child back,” she said. “But if, if you were wrong, hold yourself accountable for it, whether it was the officers or the people that were in the car, be accountable, because everybody dropped the ball that night, and that's just how I feel.”
The Carter family’s attorney released the following statement regarding the officers facing a pre-disciplinary hearing.
These officers were clearly reckless in shooting at the vehicle when they had no information that she was the source of the shots, nor that she posed an imminent threat of serious harm. The two officers used deadly force at Antwoinette’s vehicle, which is against police policies and training. More disturbing is that Antwoinette’s mother was terrified and traumatized when she saw them shooting at her daughter without justification. These officers should be held accountable. We are still waiting for the investigation reports that will clarify what happened.
I reached out to the officers’ union for comment, but so far, I haven’t heard back.
A decision from the pre-disciplinary hearing could take weeks.
