Autopsy results revealed a major update in the case of Krystal Rivera, the 36-year-old Chicago police officer who was fatally shot by her partner earlier this year.
Officer Rivera was shot from behind, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner. The bullet entered her left flank, just missing her bulletproof vest and piercing her lung.
The 36-year-old female Chicago police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty by her partner in June in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood after an “investigatory stop” led to a police chase.
The autopsy released Wednesday lists Rivera’s manner of death as a homicide.
Her devastated family is asking Chicago police to release the body camera footage, citing her partner’s disciplinary record with CPD.
“I need to know what happened that night, I need to know the truth,” Rivera’s mother said.
According to court documents, police and prosecutors were investigating the shooting as accidental. Baker hasn’t been charged with a crime.
The attorney representing Chicago Police Officer Carlos Baker, who shot Rivera, cautioned against second guessing tactical decisions made by police.
“Officer Baker is heartbroken over what happened on that night and will privately process his grief,” said Tim Grace, Baker’s attorney. “The focus should not be on second guessing each tactical decision made but rather on the profound loss of a great police officer and equally great person.”
Chicago police confirmed Officer Baker was relieved of police powers last week, which typically means an officer has been stripped of their gun and badge – and no longer has authority to make an arrest.
CPD hasn’t said what led the department to relieve Baker of his powers. However, the move wasn’t made in connection with Rivera’s shooting.
Following the development, attorneys for her family issued a statement:
“While the Rivera family and their legal team wholly believe removing Carlos Baker’s police powers is the appropriate decision, we called for this from the earliest days after he fatally shot his police partner, Krystal Rivera,” the attorneys said. “However, as we stated clearly several weeks ago, the concerns about Carlos Baker go back further than the night he killed Krystal. The City hired this rogue police officer despite knowing he was a danger to the community while he was a probationary officer. They took affirmative action to hire Carlos Baker when the only action should have been to terminate his probation and ensure he never wore a CPD shield or carried a gun. Krystal Rivera would be alive today.”
However, as we stated clearly several weeks ago, the concerns about Carlos Baker go back further than the night he killed Krystal.
On Monday, Chicago attorney Matt Topic filed a motion in a Cook County Criminal Court case involving Adrian Rucker. Rucker has been charged with 113 counts of armed violence, drug possession and more relating to the incident that resulted in Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera being shot and killed during a confrontation.
Attorney Topic filed Monday’s motion on behalf of NBC 5 Chicago, the Better Government Association, the Chicago Sun-Times and other local media after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office successfully got a judge to enter a broad secrecy order immediately after the criminal case was filed, prohibiting the release of all records in this case, including records that normally would be available to the public and the media through a Freedom of Information request.
This keeps, under seal, police bodycam video and dashcam video that might possibly show the shooting; reports from witnesses and fellow police officers; and all other material related to the incident.
The material is important because Rivera was not shot and killed by the defendant, Rucker. She was shot and killed by her partner, Baker, and the police narratives, reports and videos would most likely reveal important details on how the shooting happened.
As NBC 5 and other media pointed out in their motion, “In light of the cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald and the code of silence that was acknowledged by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, there is a significant public interest in maximum transparency into any use of deadly force by a police officer.”
The court has scheduled a hearing for NBC 5’s motion on Sept. 10. We plan to report the results of that hearing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
