Judge tosses case against 3 Honolulu police officers accused in the killing of a 16-year-old

By Aya Elamroussi and Andy Rose, CNN

The three Honolulu police officers who faced various murder charges over the killing of a 16-year-old boy will not stand trial after a judge ruled Wednesday that there was no probable cause to proceed with the case.

Iremamber Sykap was shot eight times through the rear window of a white Honda that police suspected had been stolen and used in a series of crimes, according to the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital following the April 5 shooting. The teen’s brother, Mark Sykap, was struck by two bullets and survived.

Officer Geoffrey Thom was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly firing the shots that killed Sykap “without provocation.” And officers Zackary Ah Nee and Christopher Fredeluces faced second-degree attempted murder charges.

Judge William Domingo determined that the officers had no way of knowing that the suspects being pursued in the car chase were unarmed teenagers when they opened fire.

“All we had was a white Honda speeding away, trying to avoid being arrested,” Domingo said at the end of a weeks-long preliminary hearing.

A grand jury had decided not to indict the officers in the killing of Iremamber, but prosecutors sought their own charges— arguing that the officers’ use of deadly force was “unnecessary, unreasonable, and unjustified under the law.”

Thomas Otake, the attorney who represents Ah Nee, told CNN that he was not surprised by the grand jury and the court’s decisions.

“This was clearly a case of officers acting to protect themselves and the public. It was not even a close call,” Otake said in an emailed statement.

Richard Sing, who represents Thom, agreed with Otake’s stance.

“The rejection of the prosecutors misguided accusations by both the grand jury and then by the courts, all within 2 months of each other, means that the charges were utterly without merit or cause,” Sing told CNN in a statement.

Fredeluces’ lawyer, Crystal K. Glendon, said that justice prevailed.

“Both attempts failed because they were without merit,” Glendon told CNN in an email. “A case that never should have been charged was resoundingly dismissed not once, but twice.”

Prosecutors had said body camera video contradicted the officers’ claims that Sykap attempted to use the car to ram them, putting their lives in danger. Sykap was not complying with officers’ demands but did not at any time pose a threat to their lives, according to the criminal complaints filed against the officers.

The body camera video has not been released to the public.

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CNN’s Joe Sutton and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.