Body cam footage released in fatal police shooting of unarmed teen in Lee's Summit, Missouri
Attorneys for the family of 19-year-old Saveion McConnell released body camera footage of his fatal shooting by a deputy on May 1. The Johnson County prosecutor has declined to file charges.
Family attorneys publish body cam video of unarmed Missouri teen's fatal police shooting
Attorneys representing the family of Saveion McConnell, a 19-year-old from Lee's Summit, Missouri, have released portions of body camera footage documenting the circumstances of his death on May 1, kctv5.com reports. The footage was made public on Monday by national civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and the legal firm Romanucci & Blandin.
The release comes roughly three weeks after Johnson County, Missouri, prosecutor Robert Russell concluded that a deputy's use of force was legally justified under Missouri law, citing McConnell's movement toward his waistband during a foot pursuit.
The body camera recording was captured by an Odessa Police Department officer and shows a Lafayette County Sheriff's Deputy firing nine shots at McConnell. Eight of those shots struck the teenager, who was unarmed at the time. McConnell had graduated from Lee's Summit North High School in 2025.
The events of May 1
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, deputies initially responded to the intersection of Missouri Highway 131 and U.S. Highway 50 after finding a 17-year-old girl in a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the back. McConnell was identified as the shooter. Investigators recovered an AR-style rifle with no serial number and a Glock 9mm pistol from the vehicle.
McConnell's uncle, Phillip Washington, said all parties in the vehicle were known to each other and stated that witnesses told authorities the shooting had been accidental.
Content of the footage
The attorneys released two separate clips. In the first, the Odessa officer is heard on a phone call at 3:37 a.m., discussing the search for McConnell with another officer. During that conversation, the officer said: "Trying to find a Black kid at night. That's always fun. Just from the way the friends were talking, he sounds pretty interesting, so we'll see how this goes."
The second clip shows the officer and a Johnson County Sheriff's Deputy stopping McConnell and another individual walking along the highway, with the officer's weapon drawn. McConnell initially complied with commands but fled as the officer moved to handcuff him.
The footage then captures the deadly confrontation, with McConnell standing near the highway shoulder just feet from the Lafayette County deputy. Seconds before the fatal shots are fired, the Odessa officer is heard shouting, "Taser! Taser! Taser!" McConnell's hands then moved toward his waist, which his family's attorneys described as "an apparent attempt to pull up his pants." The deputy immediately opened fire.
Attorney response
Crump described the officer's remarks in the first clip as "reprehensible" and placed the shooting within a broader pattern of police violence against Black Americans.
"Once again, an unarmed young Black man has been killed by police in this country," Crump said. "No parent should ever have to hear a police officer talk about the search for their child as if it were sport. Saveion was 19 years old, with his whole life ahead of him. Black families in this country know this story far too well. We stand with Saveion's mother and father and his entire family in their fight for justice."
Prosecutor stands by decision
On 15 September, Russell announced that no charges would be filed against the deputy. In his initial statement, Russell said: "Based upon the available evidence, I believe it would be difficult to find that the deputy did not have a reasonable belief of immediate serious injury or death from the actions of McConnell as he pulled up his t-shirt and made the motion to his waistband with his right hand."
Russell noted that Missouri law requires the state to disprove self-defence, and that he believed a jury would likely find the deputy's use of deadly force justified given the context — McConnell was a suspect in a shooting, had been reported as armed, and was fleeing law enforcement at the time.
Following the publication of the two clips, KCTV5 sought comment from the Johnson County Prosecutor's Office. Russell responded by expressing sympathy for the McConnell family while reaffirming his position.
"This is not a new video but excerpts from the entire body camera video from the Odessa officer. While he makes insensitive statements, those are not attributed to the officer involved in the shooting," Russell said. "In reviewing the whole video and not solely excerpts, I still stand by my decision based on the whole of the evidence not to file charges."
Russell added that the evidence presented to his office was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the deputy had not acted in self-defence, as required under Missouri law.
This article contains references to graphic content.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)