TUCSON, Ariz. -- Family members of Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez, gathered at Jacome Plaza demanding justice for Ingram-Lopez.
The 27-year-old man died in Tucson Police custody in April. They are calling the Pima County Attorney's decision “outrageous.”
Wednesday, the Pima County Attorney's office announced the three officers involved in Ingram-Lopez's death would not face criminal charges.
The man's family protested the decision with a walk to the County Attorney's office to deliver a petition.
“They just issued a memo saying too bad, so sad. They were justified,” said Isabel Garcia, one of the speakers.
Activists and family members were calling for a second opinion.
“Why don’t we present the case to a preliminary hearing?” Garcia added.
Diana Chuffe, Ingram-Lopez’s aunt, says the roughly 12 minute video of Adrian asking for help speaks for itself.
“Our family heard Adrian beg when he couldn’t breathe. Our family heard Adrian cry over and over, Nana ayudame. And our family cried in despair as we slowly saw him dying,” Chuffe said.
The in-custody death happened exactly five months before the county attorney's decision.
Tucson Police said they responded to a disturbance call where Ingram-Lopez had been behaving erratically.
Officers restrained him. He later died.
The case sparked public protests over the summer, and the officers involved resigned.
Thursday afternoon the family and community were hoping to get some answers, but the Pima County Attorney’s Office was silent.
The Attorney's Office said after yesterday's announcement they wouldn't comment further.
“There isn’t even this inch of humanity to even face the family when they’re asking for this case to actually be heard,” said Alba Jaramillo, a speaker.
However, the family is hopeful the decision will be reconsidered. In the meantime, here’s what they plan on doing moving forward.
“I’d like to close today by repeating a quote that we heard during the meeting from the Pima County Attorney’s office and their quote says: there were a lot of things that arguable went wrong that could be seen as criminal recklessness and negligence. And our family agrees. We agree that Starbuck, Jackson, and Routledge were being very reckless and negligent in how they handled Adrian...and our family is going to continue to fight for criminal charges to be filed against these three officers,” said Chuffe.
The family says they’ve filed civil claims and will sue the city and officers.
