BPD officer pleads not guilty to manslaughter in fatal shooting of Dorchester man

A Boston police officer who was arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection to the fatal shooting of a Dorchester man in Roxbury last week appeared in court Thursday, after the Suffolk Country District Attorney says he was wrong to shoot the 39-year-old carjacking suspect.

Nicholas O’Malley, 33, appeared in Roxbury District Court and pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. This marks the first time in 30 years that Boston police officer has been arrested and charged after a fatal officer-involved shooting.

“This is unprecedented in my 35 years as a lawyer. I don’t think this has ever happened,” said Ken Anderson, O’Malley’s Defense Attorney.

At approximately 10 p.m. on March 11, police said they received a call for a stolen vehicle on Tremont Street. They said a woman was in the passenger seat of her own car when a man got in the driver’s seat, punched her, forced her out, and drove off. Police, including officer O’Malley, tracked down the car 15 minutes later at an angled parking spot in Linwood Square.

Officials said the car was still running as Stephenson King, 39, of Dorchester, was reclined in the driver seat.

Court officials said O’Malley stopped the car by parking behind it to block it in. O’Malley, with his gun drawn, and another officer then approached the car.

Officials said O’Malley told King to show his hands, unlock the car doors and and turn the car off. King allegedly did show his hands but otherwise did not comply. They said King put the window down as O’Malley approached, and O’Malley told King, “Bro, I’m gonna (expletive) shoot you.”

King then reversed the car, crashing into the police cruiser behind. He then tried to maneuver the car out of the space, and O’Malley allegedly re-drew his gun and fired three times into the driver’s window.

Prosecutors argue even though body camera video shows King ignored verbal warnings from officers and began to drive away, neither O’Malley nor his partner were in danger of being struck by the car.

“Video established that the second officer was not in harm’s way, he was off to the side of the car,” Prosecutor Ian Polumbaum said in court. “He was directly across, and in fact visible, to the defendant, and the moment the shots were almost directly across the car from him and was in greater danger of being struck by those bullets.”

— Todd McGhee speaks on police officer charged with manslaughter —

Anderson expressed outrage over his client’s arrest, including how he was taken into custody at his home Thursday morning.

“Had the Commonwealth simply reached out to us and said, ‘we’re going to seek a charge, can your client voluntarily surrender himself to the court, to a police station for booking’ we would have done that,” said Anderson.

O’Malley left the courthouse surrounded by his colleagues who came to support him. They stood shoulder to shoulder as he made his way to his car.

The President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association stood firmly in support of O’Malley’s actions.

“The facts are going to come out,” said Larry Calderone, President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. “That officer was in fear of his partner. It’s very easy on Monday morning to take a look at a body camera and try to determine what an officer felt from your point of view.”

The defense said King has a long criminal record, and the Boston Police Union believes he would be alive today if he had complied with officers’ commands.

“It’s an individual that’s been arrested multiple times,” Calderone said. “It’s an individual that knows what it is to follow verbal commands. That’s a must out on the street. When an officer in uniform is asking you to see your hands, to shut the car off, to put it in park, please help them.”

— Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association shows support for O’Malley —

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden maintains O’Malley broke the law.

When 7NEWS aked Hayden if police officers trying to stop a suspect from driving away should just let them go, Hayden replied, “In this circumstance that might have been prudent, yes.”

Hayden also said the body camera video from the shooting will not be released to the public, as it would endanger the prosecution, but some city leaders said they disagree with that decision.

“I think it’s important to confirm everyone’s statement of what they saw based on the body cam. Pictures don’t lie,” said Boston City Concilor Miniard Culpepper.

Amid calls for greater transparency from his department, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox called this a “diffifult day,” writing, “We rely on the integrity of the criminal justice system in what we do every day, and this case will be no different.”

Prosecutors wanted bail set at $25,000, but O’Malley was released on personal recognizance. He is due back in court in May.