This is huge, surprising news. It will outrage many. I think the shooting of James Boyd was unnecessary and unjustified, but I am uneasy with a murder charge. We need a word for the institutional failure that leads cops to kill citizens. I don’t think sending these two cops to prison will do that, although it is better than doing nothing or sending them on to another police force. We need to stop this before it happens again. Training and a change in attitude at every level of law enforcement will do that. In that respect, this may be part of that change in attitude.

DA files murder charges against officers in James Boyd shooting | Albuquerque Journal News

Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg charged two Albuquerque police officers each with an open count of murder on Monday in the fatal shooting of a homeless camper in Albuquerque’s foothills last March.

Brandenburg’s office filed a criminal information that charges former Albuquerque police Detective Keith Sandy and SWAT team member Dominique Perez with murder in the death of James Boyd, a 36-year-old homeless man who was shot in March 2014.

Brandenburg said her office charged Sandy and Perez with an open count of murder because “we have probable cause.”

She would not discuss the specific facts of the case and said it would be up to the judge hearing the case to determine which charge — ranging from
1st degree murder to aggravated assault — would apply in the case.

The charges are the first against an Albuquerque police officer in connection to a shooting. APD has been involved in more than 40 shootings since 2010, resulting in 27 deaths.

DA files murder charges against officers in James Boyd shooting | Albuquerque Journal News