Indictments released for two of the three officers charged in Keith Murriel’s death

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Indictments have been served on two of the three Jackson police officers charged in connection with the death of Keith Murriel.

In May, a Hinds County grand jury indicted Kenya McCarty, Avery Willis and James Land, months after the 41-year-old Jackson man died in their custody.

McCarty and Willis are both charged with second-degree murder, while Land is charged with manslaughter.

According to McCarty’s indictment, the former Jackson Police Department’s “depraved heart” actions included “jolting Keith Muriel with electricity multiple times... and placing Keith Murriel in a patrol car in an unsafe manner.”

Bodycam footage shows an officer believed to be McCarty tasing the victim multiple times while he was already face-down on the ground.

Footage also reveals an officer believed to be McCarty cursing and yelling at the man, even telling him not to look at her after he was pinned.

Indictments reveal a grand jury also believed Land was culpable in the death, saying he was “assisting Officers Avery Willis and Kenya McCarty” in the actions leading to his death.

Videos released by the city show that an officer thought to be Land explaining to a Jackson firefighter that Murriel was tased after he refused to cooperate.

The victim was put in the back of a patrol car on his stomach and later found unresponsive. It was unclear when an ambulance was called.

An attorney for the victim’s family said he was in the back of that patrol car for an hour before medical help arrived.

At least one of the officers that arrested him later was seen in police footage performing chest compressions on Murriel in the back of the ambulance.

The State Medical Examiner later ruled Murriel’s death a homicide. The cause was determined to be cardiac arrhythmia.

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