OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The top prosecutor serving Omaha and surrounding areas in Douglas County has convened a single grand jury to investigate more than a dozen in-custody deaths - including two people killed by Omaha police.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine is leading the process of taking the 15 cases before the grand jury, the Omaha World-Herald reported. State law requires a grand jury investigation anytime someone dies behind bars or in the process of being arrested or detained.
The unusually high number of case represents a backlog of cases dating to as far back as September 2018 as courts sought to avoid convening jurors and others during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the cases the grand jury will consider is the Nov. 20 shooting of Kenneth Jones, 35, of Omaha, during a traffic stop. Police say an officer shot Jones when he refused commands to show his hands and police later determined he was holding a gun.
The grand jury will also consider the December 2019 police shooting of Terry Hudson, 57, during a domestic violence call at an Omaha apartment. Responding officers said they could hear a woman yelling “No, Terry,” then heard gunshots before Hudson came out of the apartment with a gun in his hand. Police then fatally shot Hudson before finding 58-year-old Dana Wells dead in the apartment from a gunshot wound.
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