CMPD officer faced ‘imminent threat’ before fatal shooting of robbery suspect, DA rules

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer “faced an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death” when he fatally shot a robbery suspect in a parking lot on West Boulevard in January, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said in a statement on Tuesday.

CMPD K-9 Officer Timothy Kiefer fired “multiple times” at Michael Daniel Kelley when Kelley came from behind a Dumpster “with one arm behind his back and one raised at Officer Keifer while stating, ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ “ Merriweather said.

Police only recovered a knife at the scene, according to the DA.

Kelley ran toward the officer, “pursuing him around his vehicle,” according to the district attorney’s statement.

“As such, Officer Keifer faced an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death, and it would be impossible for the State to prove Officer Keifer did not act in self-defense when he fired at the decedent,” according to Merriweather’s statement.

Kiefer fired 13 shots, according to Merriweather.

Kelley’s mother, Lisa, told the Charlotte Observer her family has seen the body camera footage of when her son was shot and killed.

“It was very difficult to watch but it was necessary for us so that we would have no doubt,” Lisa Kelley said of her son who the family called Danny.

Previously, Lisa Kelley and her husband, Danny Kelley’s father, released a statement saying they’d believed the police officer who shot their son had been left with no other choice in the parking lot that day.

And after reviewing the footage and Merriweather’s report on the shooting, Lisa Kelley by phone on Tuesday said her family remains confident Kiefer acted appropriately.

“Our son took a bull run toward that officer and he did not stop,” Lisa Kelley said.

Bystander statements and Kiefer’s body camera footage corroborated his account of what happened in the shopping center parking lot on West Boulevard on Jan. 16, Merriweather said.

The Observer petitioned in court to have the body camera footage released, but the judge denied the request, saying he wanted to wait until the investigation was over.

Kiefer approached Kelley because he matched the description of a suspect in two armed robberies that happened earlier in the day, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told reporters at the scene of the shooting.

Witness Ron Straite, 62, told The Charlotte Observer in January that he heard an officer telling someone who was near the shopping center’s Dumpster to show his hands. Straite said the officer told the man three times to take his hand from behind his back.

The officer “shot three times” after the man “pulled an object out” while approaching the officer, Straite told the Observer.

Straite, who was about 100 feet away, said he couldn’t see what the object was. The officer shot three more times after the suspect refused the officer’s commands, Straite said.

“I think (the officer) did everything he could to keep from shooting,” Straite said.

Kelley’s parents issued a statement that week saying they had “no ill feelings” against anyone in connection with their son’s death:

“On January 16th, 2019 our son, Michael Daniel Kelley (better known to most as Danny), perpetrated a series of acts that ultimately led to an encounter with police that ended in an officer involved shooting,” according to the statement by Michael and Lisa Kelley. By the time that Officer Kiefer of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department made contact with our son, Danny had already committed several crimes, including the injury of one innocent person.

It is our belief at this time that the actions of Danny, before and during his encounter with Officer Kiefer, left the officer with no other reasonable course of action than to use deadly force to protect himself and the community at large.

Danny was troubled with addiction and we believe it was this addiction that, directly or indirectly, led Danny to commit the crimes associated with the events of January 16th.

While we are deeply saddened and devastated by the death of our son, we would also like to express our heartfelt sorrow for the victims of his crimes and ultimately to Officer Kiefer. We bear no ill feelings towards Officer Kiefer and understand that this is a trying and troubling time for him too.”

This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 12:51 PM.