The Staten Island district attorney announced Tuesday that he will not reopen the investigation into the death of Eric Garner.
Michael McMahon said the statute of limitations has passed, and there has been no new evidence since a grand jury decided not to press criminal charges against NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in 2014. McMahon also said he's legally barred from releasing the grand jury minutes.
The announcement comes just a day after Police Commissioner James O'Neill fired Pantaleo from the department for his role in Garner's death. That decision followed the recommendation of NYPD Judge Rosemarie Maldonado, who called Pantaleo's recount of the incident "untruthful."
Garner died on Staten Island five years ago, after Pantaleo put him in a banned chokehold during an arrest attempt. Garner was suspected of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on the street.
While lying on the ground, Garner was heard saying "I can't breathe," which became a rallying cry for police reform activists around the United States.
The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide caused by neck compression.
"It is some semblance of justice for the family. It took too long. We should not have waited on justice. We should have afforded him his due process rights and we should have terminated him earlier," New York Attorney General Letitia James said about the case, at a separate announcement in the city.
Meantime, a GoFundMe page created to pay Pantaleo's legal bills has raised more than $74,000. Supporters of the Garner family are calling for the page to be reported and taken down.
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