By Andy Hoffman
The Hawk Eye
BURLINGTON, Iowa — A Burlington police officer was cleared of any wrongdoing Friday by Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers in the fatal Jan. 6 shooting of 34-year-old Autumn Steele of Burlington.
Beavers said no criminal charges will be filed against Hill for discharging his weapon during a domestic disturbance between Steele and her husband, Gabriel, 35, about 10:30 a.m. outside the couple’s home, 104 S. Garfield Ave.
In a seven-page ruling released Friday afternoon, Beavers wrote, “Officer Jesse Hill’s actions could be determined to be reasonable under the circumstances to protect himself from injury.
“Based upon my review of the case with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and a full review of the facts and circumstances provided to me concerning the death of Mrs. Autumn Steele, it is determined that no criminal charges against Officer Jesse Hill are supported by the evidence,” she wrote. “Officer Hill was faced with the decision to shoot in an instant. He had to process the situation alone, and made the decision at the time the threat was occurring.”
Beavers said the “facts are corroborated by (Hill’s) body camera video evidence, witness statements, reports and documentation provided in the DCI investigation.”
Hill could not be reached for comment Friday.
However, Burlington Police Chief Doug Beaird said he had talked with Hill.
“Officer Hill has indicated he wants to return to duty as soon as possible,” Beaird said, shortly after Beavers’ decision was announced. “He is still going through a counseling process and won’t be allowed to return to duty until that is completed.
“By department policy, an officer involved in a (situation like this) is required to see a licensed therapist and must be cleared by the therapist before he can return to duty. We don’t know when that process will be completed.”
The 31-year-old Hill, who has been on the police department since August 2013, has been on paid administrative leave since the incident.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the Steele family, Officer Hill, the entire police department and the community in general,” Beaird said.
Trent Henkelvig, Gabriel Steele’s attorney, said he read Beavers’ decision and talked to Steele about it.
“We have decided we do not want to make a comment at this time,” he said, indicating they have not decided whether to pursue the case in civil court.
Beavers said she told Henkelvig Friday she wanted to talk with Steele about her decision before releasing it to the public, but he declined her offer.
“They decided not to do it,” she said. “I told them I would make myself available to them in the future if they wish to do so.”
Adam Klein, a Georgia attorney who represents Autumn Steele’s 7-year-old son, Kai, disagreed with Beavers’ conclusion.
“In her statement, Ms. Beavers cites Iowa Code Section 707.5, Involuntary Manslaughter, as follows:
“A person commits involuntary manslaughter when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of a public offense other than a forcible felony or escape.”
Klein said Beavers argued “for a charge of involuntary manslaughter to be warranted, Officer Hill must have been committing a public offense at the time he caused her death.”
He said Beavers’ conclusion can be reached only by ignoring the actual text of Section 707.5, which reads in the second paragraph, “a person commits involuntary manslaughter punishable when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury.
“According to Ms. Beavers’ own description of Officer Hill’s actions, he fired two shots in Autumn Steele’s direction, both of which struck her. If that is not ‘the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury,’ it is difficult to imagine what would be.
“Ms. Beavers does not argue otherwise; instead, she has simply ignored the law.”
Klein said he is conferring with other attorneys involved in the case before deciding if they will ask the Iowa Attorney General’s office to review Beavers’ decision. He also declined to say if they would pursue the case in civil court.
Steele was shot during a confrontation with her 35-year-old husband less than an hour after she had been released from the Des Moines County jail, where she had been kept overnight after being charged with domestic assault on her husband the previous day.
According to Beavers’ report, Hill told investigators he was dispatched to 104 S. Garfield Ave. minutes before the shooting about a domestic disturbance between Steele and her husband.
When he arrived, he saw the dog running behind Autumn Steele.
He then saw Gabriel Steele walking away from the house holding a small child with Autumn Steele running after them.
“Officer Hill advised the Steeles to get the dog, but the dog continued toward (him),” the report states. “Officer Hill drew his duty weapon as the dog continued toward (him) ... Officer Hill then fired his weapon as he fell backwards into the snow. Officer Hill was unaware he had shot Autumn Steele until he was advised by Gabriel Steele that she had been shot.”
A second officer arriving called for an ambulance.
Steele was transported to Great River Medical Center in West Burlington, where she died a short time later. Hill suffered a dog bite in the incident and was taken to GRMC for treatment of a minor wound to his left thigh and later released.
Ed Ranck, a neighbor who witnessed the incident, told police he “saw the dog running and jumping up and down at the Steeles as they came outside their residence in an argument.
“He observed Autumn Steele swinging and ‘wailing’ on Gabriel Steele. He reported he saw the dog and thought it was going to be a ‘mess.’ ”
In making her decision, Beavers cited 12 specific facts that she said determined Hill’s actions were reasonable:
—The dog attacked Hill.
—The neighbor reported the dog jumped on Hill’s back.
—Hill advised the Steeles to get the dog.
—Neither Steele restrained the dog.
—The dog attacked Hill and bit him on his thigh.
—The dog caused Hill to fall backwards, and he ultimately fell into the snow. This caused him to fire a second shot.
—"This was a physical domestic assault situation in which witnesses observed Autumn Steele punching, hitting and slapping Gabriel Steele.”
—Hill responded alone to a volatile situation.
—This was the second call abut a domestic assault involving the Steeles in two days.
—Autumn Steele was at the residence in violation of a no-contact order issued that morning before she was released from jail.
—The neighbor told the DCI once he saw the dog, “he thought it was going to be a mess.”
—Hill responded to a vicious animal complaint three months earlier in which he deployed his Taser. The pit bull in that matter, though, ran off.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was asked by the Burlington Police Department to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.
Rick Rahn, the DCI special agent in charge, gave Beavers his report Feb. 5. Beavers then had two options: she could make the final decision herself or ask the Iowa Attorney General’s office to review it.
Beavers opted to make the decision herself.
The dog, a 7-year-old German shepherd-collie mix, was shot once in the right shoulder. He was treated by a local veterinarian then taken to the Burlington animal shelter.
A five-member animal hearing board voted unanimously Wednesday the dog, named Sammy, was not dangerous or vicious as defined by Burlington city ordinance. The board, appointed by the city council, ordered the dog released to its owners.
Henkelvig said Gabriel Steele went to the animal shelter Thursday and played with “Sammy for a few minutes” before allowing Autumn Steele’s mother, Gina Colbert, to take the dog home with her in Columbus, Ga., where he will remain.
Copyright 2015 The Hawk Eye