Family wants feds to investigate death of Samuel Sterling

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The family of Samuel Sterling, who was struck and killed by a Michigan State Police vehicle while running from police, say they want the federal government — not the state — to investigate.

They questioned whether the state police should be investigating itself.

“We don’t want any favoritism,” Sterling’s cousin, Jermar Sterling, told WOOD TV8 in a phone interview on Tuesday. “We don’t want friends investigating friends.”

He said Samuel Sterling’s father was with him and agreed.

In an interview on Tuesday with WOOD TV8, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel defended how the case was being investigated.

“The state police investigate a lot of these cases, obviously,” Nessel said.

The state police Fifth District, based in Paw Paw, is investigating the death, which involved troopers from the Sixth District, which includes Kent County.

Sterling, 25, was wanted on warrants for a probation violation when he ran from police in Kentwood on April 17.

Within moments, he was struck from behind and killed just outside a Burger King by an SUV driven by a state police sergeant.  There is no indication he was armed.

In a statement released Monday, the sergeant’s attorney, Marc Curtis, said the sergeant was “heartbroken” by the death and “had no intention of purposely harming Mr. Sterling.”

The AG said the state police will work closely with her office, which would decide on charges, if any.

“This is what we do,” Nessel said. “We have a special public integrity division of the Department of Attorney General. We have prosecutors who do nothing but this, and they have great expertise in it. So, I have every expectation that this case is going to be handled properly, both in the investigation, and then evaluating the case at the warrant stage.”

In interviews with WOOD TV8 , two national experts on police procedures have questioned why the state is investigating itself.

“I think somebody, probably the governor, should ask the U.S. Attorney General to have the FBI  investigate this crash and find out what the cause was and if it was done intentionally,” Roy G. Taylor, a long-time police chief who now works as a consultant, said after watching video of the crash.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI Field Office Detroit have released a joint statement, saying they are “monitoring the ongoing state investigation into the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Samuel Sterling.”

“We will continue to coordinate with our state and local law enforcement partners,” the statement continued. “If in the course of the state investigation, evidence reveals a potential violation of federal criminal statutes, we will take appropriate action.”

The AG says she doesn’t know how long it will take to finish the investigation.

“I know that the Michigan State Police are acting as expeditiously as possible, but you want to be thorough, right?” Nessel said. “That’s the most important thing, and then they’ll get it to our department and we’ll act as quickly as we can.”

Records show Sterling had absconded from probation in June 2022 after a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

The weapons charge came after police said they found a gun in his unoccupied car.

He violated probation, records show, by possessing marijuana and leaving the state.

The state police sergeant, whose name hasn’t been released, remains on unpaid leave.

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