There will be no re-trial for Fort Worth Police Officer Courtney Johnson in the 2015 shooting of Craigory Adams.
A mistrial was declared last week after a jury could not decide if the shooting was reckless. Then on Thursday, Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying that after reviewing the evidence and the case, prosecutors believe that retrying it would only end in another hung jury.
Now Adams's elderly parents are speaking out. NBC 5 sat down with them just feet away from where their son was shot in the driveway of their home on New York Avenue in Fort Worth.
"He could have killed my son, he could have killed him," said Jeanette Adams.
The 91-year-old still remembers clearly the night Johnson came to her block.
He was responding to a call of someone banging on a neighbor's door with a knife. At the same time, the family says their son had come outside to get some air, holding a large barbecue fork he used to protect against wild animals.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"That wasn't no weapon or nothing," said Adams's father, Early Adams.
Dash camera video shows Johnson approaching Craigory Adams with his shotgun pointed, believing he had a knife in his hand.
Craigory Adams had dropped the fork and lowered himself to one knee when Johnson says he accidentally shot him, hitting him in the arm. The video shows Johnson then rushing to help the man.
"With the gun in his hand he's standing over him, and I screamed," Jeanette Adams said.
Johnson was emotional when he took the stand in his trial.
"You didn't intentionally shoot this man did you?" defense attorney Jim Lane asked. "No sir, I did not," Johnson replied, his voice catching with emotion.
Johnson said that Craigory Adams wasn't responding quickly and the fork was still within reach. He wanted him to turn away from it, so he half-racked his shotgun in warning, and the shot went off.
Experts testified Johnson unintentionally pulled the trigger as a "sympathetic reflex" when he racked the shotgun with his other hand.
But activists think the officer was reckless and that the case shows a double standard.
Pastor and activist Kyev Tatum said that if he were to point a shotgun at someone, "half-cocked it and it went off accidentally, I'm going to be charged and convicted of a crime."
With the pain still fresh, the Adams family is disappointed the case won't be re-tried.
"I don't feel good at all about that, because he has never been in any trouble or anything and he's a very sweet and fine person," Jeanette Adams said. "There's a way of doing things without having to hurt anybody."
Craigory Adams recovered from the shooting. He has bipolar disorder and lives in a nursing home now.
Fort Worth police say that Johnson will be returning to full patrol duty after completing extensive training on firearms, use of force and de-escalation. It's not clear where he'll be posted when he returns to the streets.
Johnson did not want to comment Thursday, but his attorney Tim Choy released the following statement:
"We agree with the decision made by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office to dismiss Fort Worth Police Officer Courtney Johnson's case. We also felt that if this case were re-tried, it would end in another mistrial. However, we believe that Officer Courtney Johnson should not have been indicted to begin with because we do not believe that Officer Courtney Johnson was reckless in racking his shotgun that night because he had no prior knowledge or experience that racking the shotgun could lead to an unintentional discharge. We are pleased that this case is now complete and that Officer Courtney Johnson can now return to active duty as an officer with Fort Worth Police Department."
