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The trial for two Indianapolis cops who killed Herman Whitfield III during a mental health crisis is set to begin this week.
According to the AP, opening statements in the trial against officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez will begin Monday morning. The trial is expected to last at least a week.
In 2023, both officers were indicted by a grand jury and charged with one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and battery resulting in moderate injury, and one misdemeanor battery charge.
Indianapolis police killed Herman Whitfield III on April 25, 2022, after Whitfield’s family called 911 to report their 39-year-old son was having a mental health crisis. According to AP, officers arrived at the home to find Whitfield naked and pacing. Bodycam footage, which the family fought tooth and nail to be released, shows officers trying to convince Whitfield to put clothes on so he could be taken to the hospital, but he didn’t respond to their requests and avoided eye contact with the officers.
Whitfield is then seen on camera running past a dining room table when he is tased by Sanchez, causing him to fall to the floor, crashing into furniture. Sanchez, Ahmad, and other officers then hold a struggling Whitfield face down on the floor while they try to handcuff and subdue him.
Whitfield can also be heard on the camera saying he “can’t breathe” multiple times before he stopped responding to officers. By the time officers rolled Whitfield over, he was unresponsive. He would later be pronounced dead at the hospital.
Whitfield’s death was ruled a homicide by the Marion County Coroner’s Office. The autopsy listed “morbid obesity” and “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” as contributing factors in his death, according to AP.
The officers have been on administrative leave since their 2023 grand jury indictment and are being tried together as co-defendants.
Herman Whitfield’s family has also filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Indianapolis and six police officers, including Ahmad and Sanchez. The lawsuit claims that Whitfield “died because of the force used against him” and said the police acted “unreasonable and excessive.”
“Mr. Whitfield needed professional mental health care, not the use of excessive force,” the filing read.
The civil trial is expected to start in July 2025.
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