State Will Not Charge Seneca Officer

A U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation into the shooting death of a man by a Seneca policeman is still ongoing. “As stated from day one, Lt. Tiller acted in self-defense and the decision today supports this position”, Mussetto said.

The Hammond family attorney, however, disagreed with the prosecutor’s decision. Tiller’s lawyer denied the cop ever threatened the teen. Adams said a letter about her decision and request to close the state’s case has been forwarded to SLED.

City lawyers have said the shooting was justified and that Tiller shot Hammond in self-defense.

“We’re disappointed obviously”, Bland said, explaining that it was clear to him that the officer didn’t follow the necessary escalation protocol.

Hammond’s family has contended the teenager’s civil rights were violated. The above video, shown in full and frame-by-frame, was released as part of this lawsuit.

Zachary Hammond, 19, died July 26 after being shot by Seneca Police Department Lt. Mark Tiller.

After Hammond was shot, police arrested Tori Morton, 23, and charged her with possession of 10 grams of marijuana.

The trooper’s cell number differed by only one digit from the intended recipient.

Stay tuned … we plan on speaking with those closest to this case in the very near future (and pressing Adams’ office for information).

Sgt. B.J. McClure parked and waited in the lot.

McClure didn’t plan to complete the drug transaction, Adams said. Hammond’s family filed a petition with the state Supreme Court to have S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson remove Adams from the Hammond case due to what attorneys cited as numerous conflicts of interest, including comments that she has reportedly made in court and because a case involves a law enforcement member within her judicial circuit. I cant really recall what else was said.

Hammond was shot twice by Tiller during an undercover marijuana sting operation that went wrong.

The officer never gave Hammond the opportunity to put his hands up, Bland said. Hammond reversed, however, and attempted to drive away.

As the auto turns toward Tiller, he screams, “I’m going to shoot your f***ing a**!” and then fires at Hammond after the vehicle was passed him. Tiller yells as he approaches the vehicle. Down to their last dollar, Hammond told Morton that they would go to the Hardee’s to “pick up a few money” and then get dinner. “He tried to hit me”, Tiller is heard saying out of the dashboard camera’s view. “This was just a traffic stop at the time”.

“Zachary, no question, tried to leave”.

Tiller, instead, could have put down his gun and called for backup and a roadblock, Bland said. In a letter to SLED dated October 26, Adams wrote, “The evidence from this investigation corroborates and supports Lt. Tiller’s belief that he was going to be run over”. “We should judge it by, is this the type of society we live in, where an officer can use deadly force on an unarmed kid who was fleeing a traffic stop?”

Tiller killed Hammond on July 26.

Text messages from Hammond’s phone also indicated that he and Morton had known each other longer than she had claimed and that “Hammond had a history of supplying Morton with drugs”. “In fact, Hammond had the word “Outlaw” tattooed on his left forearm the month prior to his death”, the prosecutor wrote.

“This has been a very hard case”, Adams concludes in the letter. “The text messages indicate that Hammond had been on a unsafe and destructive course for a significant period of his life”. “What happened during this encounter is a tragedy”.