An announcement from Cook County's top prosecutor that no charges would be filed against officers involved in the shooting deaths of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez sent shockwaves through Chicago communities. The city is still grieving the losses of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, both shot by Chicago police officers two days apart in 2021.
Both ran from police officers and both were holding guns at points in their respective chases, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said during a news conference on Tuesday. Toledo, who police dubbed an "armed offender" in a preliminary statement, was shot and killed when Officer Eric Stillman couldn't confirm that the child had in fact followed his command to drop his gun. Alvarez slipped and fell during his police chase, which Officer Evan Solano allegedly interpreted as crouching to ambush the officer, according to the Chicago Tribune.
RELATED: Chicago officials release video of police officer killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo
Foxx said Solano and his partner “created the conditions in which the use of deadly force became necessary” and that officers knew Alvarez's home address if they wanted to question him. He was accused of speeding away from police when they attempted a traffic stop the night before his death, the Tribune reported. Solano was put on desk duty about two months after the incident.
Foxx explained that, in Adam Toledo’s case, her office reviewed the facts, law, and evidence in making its decision. That evidence included a report from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability as well as one from the Chicago Police Department, officer and witness interviews, crime lab analysis, recorded video footage, and medical records.
”When we look at these cases, we now must also look at the law as it applies,” the prosecutor said. “Under Illinois law, an officer is justified in using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm when he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or to other such persons.”
She said the case law her office relied upon recognizes police officers are often forced to make “split-second decisions” in situations that are “tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving.”
Foxx said officers were responding to an alert of eight gunshots fired in the area where Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman were spotted on March 29, 2021. When officers pulled up behind the two, Toledo and Roman tried to run, Foxx said.
“As Adam ran, his hands were near his waistband,” Foxx said. “Officer Stillman believed that Adam had a gun.” The officer later saw the gun and shouted for Toledo to drop it, but Foxx explained that Toledo was turning as he discarded the firearm. Stillman’s body-camera footage didn’t pick up the teen dropping the gun. The officer shot the child one time as he completed his turn. “The timing of these actions was within one second,” Foxx said.
She explained that she and others working on the case concluded that “there was no evidence to prove that Officer Stillman acted with criminal intent.” He said he didn’t fire more than once because he believed the threat no longer existed. “After the single shot was fired and Officer Stillman recognized that Adam Toledo was no longer a threat, he immediately rendered aid and continued to do so until the assisting officers and the paramedics arrived,” Foxx said.
She explained that it may be determined that Stillman violated the police department’s chase policy. But as of her office’s investigation, she referred her findings to the Office of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, and the appellate prosecutor agreed with the decision.
"This is a somber announcement, as there are no winners in this very tragic situation," Foxx said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has faced criticism over her response to Adam Toledo's death. She twice suggested that he was killed because he was holding a gun, despite later-released police body-camera footage that showed Adam was unarmed when he was shot.
RELATED: Will Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot resign? Activists hope so
Foxx explained last April that an attorney in her office "failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court." This was in Roman’s case, in which he faces gun and child endangerment charges. “Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved,” Foxx told ABC 7. “The video speaks for itself."
Warning: This video contains footage of a child being shot by a police officer, and it may be triggering for some viewers.
Police tweeted a photo of the gun recovered on the scene, but didn't inform Toledo's mother of his death for two days, Elizabeth Toledo told the nonprofit news organization Block Club Chicago. When officials did inform the mother, she was only able to confirm his identity through a picture.
She had reported her son missing days before his death, so when police contacted her asking for a photo after the shooting she said she thought it was related to her missing person's report. “They told me I had to identify my son’s body and I couldn’t even see him,” the mother told Block Club Chicago. “They showed me a picture of my son Adam for just a couple of seconds.”
RELATED: Police initially described victim shot and killed by officer as 'offender.' He was just 13
Elizabeth Toledo and Adam's father, Marco Toledo, filed a civil lawsuit against Stillman and the city of Chicago, dubbing Adam's death wrongful, according to the complaint Fox Chicago obtained.
They stated in the lawsuit:
“This action seeks to redress the significant physical, psychological, and emotional harm the Defendants caused ADAM Toledo and his family when, on March 29, 2021, Chicago Police Officer Eric STILLMAN chased, shot, and killed thirteen-year-old ADAM without justification.”
The Toledo family also said in a statement the Chicago Tribune obtained that they would be asking the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division “to address this horrific travesty.”
Stillman remains employed with the Chicago Police Department on full duty, the newspaper reported. The city implemented a new policy on foot pursuits, but a final version is still going through levels of feedback from the community, the Tribune reported.
