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State Attorney: St. Pete Officer Justified In Shooting Teen

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 12, 2008

Updated: 08/12/2008 05:03 pm

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office today said a St. Petersburg police officer was justified June 7 when he fatally shot a teenager twice in the back.

State Attorney Bernie McCabe's office investigated the fatal shooting of Javon Dawson, 17, outside Shining Light Masonic Lodge. In an eight-page letter to St. Petersburg Police Chief Charles Harmon released today, McCabe cleared Officer Terrence Nemeth of any wrongdoing, citing witnesses and forensic evidence proving Dawson was armed.

The letter also indicates Dawson was involved in an exchange of gunfire hours before he died.

The St. Petersburg Police Department is conducting its own investigation of the shooting, which will be completed in 30 to 45 days, authorities said.

McCabe's findings were released a day after Rep. Darryl Rouson joined St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and four other public officials in an open letter to the community, asking for peace after the teenager's death.

Dawson died about 10:45 p.m. at 3167 Freemont Terrace S. after police responded to the Masonic Lodge to break up a graduation party with approximately 200 people.

McCabe's letter states that Nemeth heard screams in the parking lot and saw muzzle flashes from a firearm being discharged in the crowd. He drew his weapon and commanded the shooter to drop the weapon, the letter states.

Nemeth saw an individual, later identified as Dawson, fire at least two shots at the crowd, then ran and pointed the gun at Nemeth, the letter states. The officer fired twice, striking Dawson, the letter states.

According to McCabe's letter, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and an independent forensic laboratory conducted DNA analysis of a .38-caliber handgun recovered from the Masonic lodge driveway after Dawson collapsed and died.

The tests found Dawson's DNA profile "was consistent with being the major contributor" to the DNA found on the weapon. Nemeth's DNA profile did not match DNA on the weapon, McCabe's letter states.

Additional tests discovered gunshot residue on the pocket area of Dawson's shorts, the letter states.

Dawson's hands were not tested for gunshot residue because St. Petersburg Police Department protocol does not mandate this when the test subject also is a gunshot victim, the letter states.

McCabe wrote in the letter that by the time his office learned that no samples had been collected from Dawson's hands, the autopsy procedure would have removed any residue and invalidated any tests on the hands. So McCabe requested Dawson's clothing be tested.

The letter also cites two witnesses who observed Dawson with a firearm, showing off the gun while in the parking lot of the Masonic Lodge and firing one or two shots while outside the building.

Maura Kiefer, the attorney representing Dawson's family, could not immediately be reached this afternoon. In July, Kiefer asked the governor's office to assign a new prosecutor to investigate the shooting. Kiefer said there was a conflict of interest in McCabe looking into the shooting because Nemeth has testified in cases handled by McCabe's office.

Community activists such as Omali Yeshitela, leader of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, have decried the shooting as police brutality. Yeshitela has asked that the officer be criminally charged and Dawson's family receive monetary compensation.

In regard to the shooting earlier June 7, McCabe's letter states that Dawson and three other youths were associated with a gang known as Third Avenue Boyz. The letter states that this group exchanged gunfire with another group about 8:30 p.m. at 29th Street and Sixth Avenue South, citing witnesses in the neighborhood who reported the incident.

The three other youths denied possessing a gun but told authorities they were there, McCabe said in an interview.

A female witness to the incident reported to police that "Hollywood" had a gun, using Dawson's nickname, the letter states. When questioned by McCabe's office, the woman would not acknowledge seeing Dawson with a gun, the letter states.

However, she still said Dawson was at the scene, McCabe said. "Neighbors heard the gunshots. There clearly were guns there," he said. "I concluded they had guns."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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