Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin commuted the sentence of a former police officer Sunday who fatally shot a suspected thief in 2023.
“I have today used the executive clemency authority granted to me by the Constitution of Virginia and commuted the sentence imposed on Sgt. Wesley Shifflett who was convicted of recklessly discharging a firearm by the Fairfax County Circuit Court,” Youngkin said in a statement.
Shifflett was sentenced to three years in prison Feb. 28, according to Inside Nova. Authorities determined Shifflett fired the shot that killed 37-year-old Timothy McCree Johnson, from Washington, D.C., outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22, 2023, the outlet reported.
Johnson was chased by Shifflett and another officer after he allegedly stole two pairs of sunglasses from a Nordstrom store. The officers reportedly pursued the alleged suspect outside the mall, across the parking lot and into a nearby wooded area.
The officers both drew their weapons and fired in Johnson’s direction after allegedly noticing him tug at his waistband, Inside Nova reported. The 37-year-old was hit once in the chest and he later succumbed to his injuries.
A jury acquitted Shifflett of manslaughter in October but convicted him on a charge of recklessly handling a firearm. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows sentenced the officer to five years in prison Friday, suspending two of the years, the outlet reported.
“I am convinced that the court’s sentence of incarceration is unjust and violates the cornerstone of our justice system — that similarly situated individuals receive proportionate sentences,” Youngkin said in the statement.
“In this case, the court rejected the Senior Probation and Parole Officer’s recommendation of no incarceration nor supervised probation and instead imposed a sentence of five years’ incarceration with two suspended and an additional five years of probation,” he continued. “Sgt. Shifflett has no prior criminal record, and was, by all accounts, an exemplary police officer. It is in the interest of justice that he be released immediately.”
https://x.com/FairfaxCountyCA/status/1896400787812811075