BRAINERD, Minn. — A prosecutor in greater Minnesota is reviewing evidence in the fatal shooting of Winston Smith Jr. during an attempted arrest by members of a U.S. Marshal's Service task force in June.
Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan said he'll review the evidence on his own, and hopes to have a decision on whether criminal charges should be filed in the case by mid-October.
Ryan said he was asked to take the case because counties closer to the Twin Cities had conflicts of interest. Ryan shared that he’s had “a few” police deadly force cases in his decades as Crow Wing's top prosecutor, and doesn't recall ever bringing charges.
Members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force fatally shot Smith in an Uptown parking lot June 3, saying Smith fired a gun as they attempted to take him into custody. The 32-year-old was being sought on a warrant for a felony firearms violation.
A woman in the car with Smith at the time of the fatal shooting, 27-year-old Norhan Askar, disputes that assertion. Askar has filed a lawsuit saying task force members emotionally traumatized her and violated her civil rights.