Show Thumbnails
Show Captions

This is what the public knows about the July 2017 death of 41-year-old Ismael Lopez at his home in Southaven.

Lopez, a native of Mexico and an auto mechanic, was shot and killed in his mobile home by one of two Southaven police officers.

The police officers had a warrant for another man, a white man, who lived at another address nearby.

Lopez had no arrest warrants and no criminal record.

Lopez is dead.

No charges were filed against the officers. A Southaven grand jury declined to indict the officer who shot Lopez.


Memphis-based attorney Murray Wells spoke to the media during a press conference Thursday about the case involving Ismael Lopez, a Southaven resident who was shot by police in 2017. Memphis Commercial Appeal

This is what the public doesn't know about what happened that fateful night a year ago.

Did Lopez have a gun? Was he holding it? Was he pointing it at the officers through an open door?

Did the officers identify themselves? Did they tell Lopez to put the gun down? Did they fire at Lopez through a closed door?

Did the officers know they had the wrong person? Why were the officers at the wrong address? What precautions did they take to make sure they had the right address and the right person?

What did the autopsy show and why did it take authorities more than 10 months to complete the autopsy report? John Champion, the Mississippi prosecutor in the case, said the autopsy report was "in my opinion very poorly written."

What evidence was presented to the grand jury?

The public doesn't know the answer to any of those questions because Champion has refused to release the investigative file.

No state law requires him to do so, but no state law prevents him from doing so. The grand jury process is secret and court records associated with it are sealed, but he has the authority to release the file.

Other prosecutors in suspicious and high-profile police shootings have done so.

In 2014, for example, Missouri prosecutor Robert P. McCullough released thousands of pages of documents and evidence he presented to a grand jury that declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

McCulloch said he wanted transparency and believed "everyone will be able to examine that same evidence and come to their own conclusion."

In 2015, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich got a judge's permission to release and post online the 918-page investigative file of the shooting death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling. A grand jury had declined to indict Schilling.

Weirich wrote that "promptly releasing the investigative file and giving the public timely access to information about such an emotionally charged situation will function to boost transparency and promote accountability in the government."

That's exactly what the public needs in the death of Ismael Lopez.

Did police abuse their power? Did they shoot and kill an innocent man? Or were their actions justified?

Champion should release the investigative file. As a public official, and as an officer of the court, he has an ethical duty to promote justice and effective operation of the judicial system.

The judicial system cannot operate in secrecy or darkness. Justice is not served when the public is denied critical information, especially about fatal shootings by men and women who are sworn to uphold the law.

What really happened at the Lopez home in Southaven on the evening of July 27, 2017?

The public has a right to know.

Read or Share this story: