HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — After just two days of deliberations, a judge has dismissed a manslaughter case involving a Henrico Police officer.
Henrico Officer Timothy Million was accused of shooting 53-year-old Tony Singleton of Norfolk when Million responded to a crash on I-64 in 2021.
The trial started on Monday, Jan. 23 with extensive evidence presented by the Commonwealth and Million’s defense team.
At the closing of court yesterday, the defense made a motion to strike the case, stating there was not enough evidence for a jury to decide if anything criminal happened during the arrest.
After the judge approved the defense’s motion for dismissal on Wednesday morning, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said the Commonwealth “respectfully disagrees with the court’s decision.
“We just respectfully disagree with this one decision and were just disappointed that the citizens of Henrico didn’t have a chance to assess this case,” Taylor said.
Henrico Police Chief Eric English said the force is happy to be putting this case behind them.
“Well, the judge finding that the case is dismissed is a weight off of our shoulders,” English said.
Even though the criminal case is over, it is unknown if Million will face any administrative consequences from the police department. On Wednesday, English confirmed that Million is still on paid leave.
English also said he spoke with Million after the decision came down.
“I did have the opportunity to speak with Grant of course he is delighted with the outcome,” English said. “Officer Million does need some time to decompress from this process and internally we still have an administrative process we have to go through.”
Both parties say moving forward, the relationship with the public and Henrico Police is all about transparency.
“One of the things you want to make sure you’re doing is just being transparent about what occurred,” English said. “We still have to be out there, we still have to be engaging with individuals, and in communities talking with people. And I think that’s one of the best way to amend those relationships and make sure you have the conversation.”
A grand jury trial previously convened for this case in February. Taylor said the grand jury heard testimony from witnesses and watched body camera footage from the shooting. According to Taylor, the decision from the grand jury to indict Million on the voluntary manslaughter charge was unanimous.