CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Mecklenburg County’s district attorney says he will not be pursuing charges against a deputy U.S. Marshal who shot and killed a man on his birthday at a Charlotte gas station in March 2021.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather III on Tuesday said the deputy feared for his life when he fired the fatal shot in March.
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The deputy, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, shot and killed Frankie Jennings on March 23 while attempting to serve 16 outstanding warrants at a Citgo station on The Plaza.
In a letter to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Johnny Jennings, Merriweather said:
“Given the corroborated evidence that Senior Inspector Tillman was reasonable in his belief that he and other officers faced an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death, the evidence in this case would be insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Senior Inspector Tillman did not act in defense of himself or another,” the letter read.
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“Consequently, I will not be seeking charges related to the death of Frankie Jennings.”
Jennings turned 32 on the day he died.
In the district attorney’s letter, Merriweather describes and shows the only video evidence from the scene.
The letter says CRFTF officers were not wearing body cameras, and their vehicles were not equipped with recording devices on March 23, 2021. The gas station, however, was equipped with surveillance cameras, which captured the events of that morning.
CMPD Capt. Joel McNelly in March said Jennings had six Charlotte-based warrants: two for possession of a firearm by a felon, and breaking and entering, discharging a firearm within city limits, assault on a female, and damage to property, according to The Charlotte Observer. Jennings also had six traffic warrants and one for marijuana possession in York County, S.C.
The Charlotte Observer said those warrants against Jennings are “in addition to three that had come out of Carolina Beach, south of Wilmington.” Carolina Beach police Detective Sgt. Scott Hettinger told the Observer the three warrants were sworn out by the department on March 5.
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The department charged Jennings with three felonies stemming from a confrontation the day prior: assault with a deadly weapon against a government official, fleeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle and reckless driving to endanger, the Observer reported.
Jennings’ family, some from out of state, visited him for his birthday. They were wondering why he had to die.
Frankie’s two sisters spoke and said they wanted to know why the officer said he felt threatened and if there’s any body-worn camera video of the shooting.
“My brother, go try and celebrate his birthday. What threat did he give? Sitting there, whatever he was doing? We want to know, what threat did he give,” said Jennings’ sister Kesha Leak.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officially handed the case over to the district attorney’s office in early May 2021.
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