Crime

Nicholas O'Malley is the first Boston officer to be charged in a fatal on-duty shooting in decades.

A grand jury has indicted the Boston police officer who shot and killed a carjacking suspect in Roxbury earlier this year — a case that has bitterly divided local law enforcement and public officials. 

The first Boston officer to be charged in a fatal on-duty shooting in decades, Nicholas O’Malley, 34, stands accused of an unjustified use of lethal force in the March 11 death of Stephenson King Jr., 39. A Suffolk County grand jury on Wednesday indicted O’Malley on one count of voluntary manslaughter.

His arraignment is scheduled for June 4, online court records show. 

Prosecutors say the incident began when O’Malley and another officer responded to a reported carjacking in Mission Hill the evening of March 11. They purportedly found King sitting inside the stolen vehicle near 10 Linwood Square in Roxbury and approached with their firearms drawn, yelling commands. King allegedly showed them his hands “at times” and partially rolled down the window, though he did not unlock or turn off the car, according to court records.

“Bro, I’m gonna f***ing shoot you,” O’Malley allegedly shouted to King through the window, “while holstering his firearm in favor of a Taser.”

King repeatedly drove forward and backward in an attempt to flee, backing into an unoccupied police cruiser. O’Malley allegedly drew his firearm again and fired three shots at King as the car began to pull forward one last time. He would later tell officials King “tried to run us over,” according to court documents, though prosecutors say body-worn camera footage revealed neither officer was in danger of being struck.

In fact, bodycam footage from both officers established that King was “maneuvering and clearly trying to drive away, rather than run anyone over,” Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum said in March. 

Still, defense attorney David Yannetti has indicated O’Malley’s team intends to argue self-defense. 

“It is disappointing that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is choosing to second-guess an officer whose only goal was to protect the public,” Yannetti told The Boston Globe last week. Boston.com has reached out to Yannetti for comment on Wednesday’s indictment.

Prosecutors also met with King’s family this week to update them on the case and show them bodycam footage of the encounter, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said. DA Kevin Hayden has thus far declined to release the video to the public, despite records requests and demands from elected officials.

“To do so would clearly compromise and imperil the ongoing investigation and the future prosecution of this most serious matter,” he explained in March.

The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission — the state’s police oversight board — suspended O’Malley soon after his arrest, and the Boston Police Department placed him on paid administrative leave.