ICE Agent Cleared in Death of Detroit Fugitive
A federal agent was justified in shooting to death a 20-year-old fugitive during a police raid last April, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy ruled Wednesday.
Worthy said an investigation by the Michigan State Police-Detroit Police Department homicide task force showed Terrance Kellom, armed with a hammer, charged at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Mitchell Quinn and ignored warnings to stop.
Dozens of pieces of evidence were retrieved and six Michigan State Police forensic analyses were conducted, Worthy said. She said 17 people were interviewed, some multiple times during the investigation.
Worthy said Kellom was shot four times: in the neck, shoulder, posterior flank on abdomen and thigh, but none of the wounds was close range. She said the bullet trajectories support the agent's account and Kellom was not shot in the back multiple times as claimed by his family.
Worthy noted the shooting occurred amid the backdrop of questionable police shootings elsewhere in the country.
"Yes, black lives matter. Of course, they matter. But you know what else matters? Credible facts matter," Worthy said, in clearing Quinn.
Both Kellom and Quinn are black.
The shooting of Kellom occurred while a warrant was being executed at the Detroit home, Worthy said. The warrant was connected to an armed robbery of a pizza delivery driver, she said.
The day before he was shot, Kellom was accused by his ex-girlfriend of breaking out all her car windows, Worthy said.
Related: Father of man killed in raid: 'My son did not deserve this'
On the day of shooting April 27, law enforcement went looking for Kellom, spoke with his father before seeing Kellom go into his house.
In the house were Terrance Kellom, his father Kevin, his sister, his girlfriend, sister's boyfriend and Kellom's new girlfriend, Worthy said.
Kevin Kellom and Terrance's sister answered the door when investigators arrived. The father, Kevin, let the police in, Worthy said.
Police kept the four family members downstairs as they entered the house. Officers found Terrance Kellom hiding in the attic crawl space.
"I have a gun," Kellom told the officer. He began hitting ductwork with a hammer, making a hole in the floor, Worthy said.
Quinn ran to a bedroom where he expected Kellom to drop down.
Kellom came out with a hammer in his right hand. Quinn ordered Kellom to drop the weapon several times, but he didn't, Worthy said.
Kellom continued toward Quinn. Quinn fired once and waited to see if Kellom would keep coming. Kellom kept moving toward him. Other police officers collaborated this, Worthy said.
Worthy says Kellom's father gave conflicting statements and lied to police. Kevin Kellom, whose story had conflicting details, said his son raised his hands over his head and said his son was shot twice by Quinn, Worthy said.
She said the father's description of police activity in house would violate officer protocol and common sense.
Kevin Kellom said his son was shot 8 times after falling to his knees, that he never had a weapon and that he had video, Worthy said, but there was no video. Other family members said Terrance was shot twice in the chest, then was shot 6-7 times while he was on the ground, Worthy said.
Terrance Kellom's family attorney and representatives were to hold a separate news conference later this morning, also planned to be at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in downtown Detroit.
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