COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that Columbus Police Officer Nicholas Reardon will not be charged in connection with the death of Ma’Khia Bryant. 

Bryant was fatally shot April 20, 2021 in the area of 3171 Legion Lane in Columbus. Reardon fatally shot Bryant, a 16-year-old Black teen, multiple times. He was among officers responding to a fight in front of a home in Columbus. 

“(The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations) was called to do a thorough, independent investigation of the facts,” Yost said. “I’ve asked for patience while promising transparency, and now is the appropriate time for that work to be made public.”

Yost said that his office handed the investigation over to the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’s office July 7, 2021 once the BCI completed its investigation.

As part of Yost’s announcement, a trove of documents relating to the case was released, including interviews with Reardon and other witnesses, camera footage and personnel records.

The Columbus Police previously released three separate clips of body camera footage that showed Bryant holding a knife while fighting with another girl. When police arrived on scene, the video shows Bryant pinning the girl up against a car. Police yelled for Bryant to "get down," but then Bryant can be seen lunging at the other girl with what appears to be a knife when Reardon fired his weapon. 

Officers then attempted life-saving measures "almost immediately," according to then Interim Chief Michael Woods. 

Bryant was taken to a nearby hospital, and she was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m. Bryant’s death gained national attention with prominent figures, like Lakers star LeBron James, calling for justice.

Bryant’s funeral was attended by figures such as Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, and Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky.

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