Jayland Walker Case: Shooting, Settlement, and Reforms

The Jayland Walker case refers to the June 27, 2022, fatal shooting of a 25-year-old unarmed Black man by eight Akron, Ohio, police officers, who fired 94 rounds in roughly seven seconds and struck Walker 46 times after a traffic stop for equipment violations escalated into a car chase and foot pursuit. A state grand jury declined to indict the officers in April 2023, an internal police review cleared them later that year, and in October 2024 the city of Akron agreed to pay Walker’s family $4.85 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. The case reshaped policing in Akron, producing a new vehicle pursuit policy, a voter-approved citizens’ oversight board, and a rewritten use-of-force policy.

What Happened on June 27, 2022

Shortly after midnight, Akron police tried to pull Walker over for a broken taillight and a darkened license plate light. Walker did not stop. About 40 seconds into the resulting vehicle chase, officers reported hearing a sound consistent with a gunshot from Walker’s car, and body-camera footage captured what police described as a muzzle flash along the driver’s side. Officers radioed that a shot had been fired from the vehicle.¹

Walker eventually jumped from his still-moving car and ran on foot, wearing a ski mask. Police said he ignored repeated commands to stop and show his hands. According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Walker reached toward his waistband in what officers described as a “cross-draw motion,” planted his foot, turned toward the pursuing officers, and raised his hand. Eight officers opened fire, discharging a combined 94 rounds in approximately 6.7 seconds.² Two officers also deployed Tasers, which were ineffective.³

Walker was unarmed when he was shot. A loaded handgun was later recovered from inside his vehicle. Yost acknowledged that officers were “unaware Walker was unarmed after exiting the car” and that “there is no conclusive evidence as to where he was pointing his gun.”⁴

The Autopsy

Summit County Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler released preliminary autopsy findings on July 14, 2022. Walker sustained 46 gunshot entrance wounds or graze injuries: 41 entry wounds and 5 grazes. Twenty-six bullets were recovered from his body. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, with blood loss from internal injuries.⁵

The wounds were spread across his body: 15 to the torso, injuring the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, and multiple ribs; 17 to the pelvis and upper legs, breaking the pelvis and both femurs and damaging a major artery; one to the face, fracturing his jaw; eight to the arms and right hand; and five to the lower legs and feet.⁵ Kohler said she could not identify a single fatal bullet but noted “several very devastating injuries that would cause death.” Five wounds were located in Walker’s back. It could not be determined whether those were sustained while he was running or turning.⁶

Who Jayland Walker Was

Walker had no criminal history. Family and friends described him as a skilled wrestler and a natural leader. He had been engaged to Jaymeisha Beasley, his partner since they were 15; the two had been discussing wedding plans and were in the process of buying a home together. Beasley was killed in a hit-and-run on May 28, 2022, roughly one month before Walker’s death. His cousin, Robin Elerick, said Walker was going through a “really, really hard time” in the weeks that followed.⁷ Senior Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson acknowledged that it was public knowledge Walker “was hurting” but said officials could not determine his motivation for his actions that night.⁴ A toxicology screening found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system.⁶

Why No Officers Were Charged

The Ohio Attorney General’s office presented the case to a special grand jury in Summit County over more than a week. On April 17, 2023, the nine-member panel, made up of three men and six women including two Black jurors, declined to indict the eight officers, concluding their use of force was legally justified.⁸ Under Ohio law, at least seven of nine jurors must vote in favor of charges for an indictment. The final vote count was not disclosed.

Yost said the grand jury was instructed on the law by the presiding judge rather than by prosecutors, “to avoid any question about the accuracy of the instruction.” He framed the legal standard simply: “The law allows officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or others against a deadly threat.”⁸

The Internal Review and What Happened to the Officers

After the grand jury declined to charge, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett ordered an internal review. On November 28, 2023, Mylett released a three-page executive summary concluding that the officers’ use of deadly force was “objectively reasonable” and complied with department policy. The investigation found that officers held a reasonable belief Walker presented an imminent risk of serious harm or death.⁹

The review did identify secondary policy problems. Two officers had joined the pursuit without supervisor authorization. Two others failed to immediately activate their body-worn cameras, though Mylett found neither failure was intentional. One officer had added an unauthorized magazine extension that increased his weapon’s capacity by six rounds; the department acknowledged its own policy language on the subject was unclear and later adjusted it.¹⁰ The eight officers, placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting, returned to desk duty about three and a half months later and eventually resumed regular patrol.²

Their names have never been made public. The Akron Beacon Journal filed a public records request seeking the identities, and the city refused. The dispute reached the Supreme Court of Ohio, which ruled 5–2 on December 6, 2024, that the city could continue to withhold the names. In State ex rel. Copley Ohio Newspapers, Inc. v. Akron (2024-Ohio-5677), the court held the officers qualify as “uncharged suspects” under the Confidential Law Enforcement Investigatory Records exception to the Ohio Public Records Act, because they could still face federal investigation despite not being indicted by the state grand jury.¹¹ The court also ruled that administrative-leave and reinstatement notices are public records that must be provided without redacting officer names. Justices Jennifer Brunner and Michael P. Donnelly dissented in part, arguing for the release of additional personnel and internal investigation records.¹²

The Family’s Federal Lawsuit and $4.85 Million Settlement

On June 16, 2023, Walker’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, case number 5:23-cv-01205, before Judge John R. Adams.¹³ The suit named the city of Akron, Mayor Daniel Horrigan, Police Chief Stephen Mylett, and the eight unnamed officers as defendants. It sought $45 million in damages, framed by the family’s attorneys as $1 million for each bullet that struck Walker, alleging the officers violated Walker’s Fourth Amendment rights through excessive force. The complaint further alleged a “culture of violence and racism” within the Akron Police Department, asserting that city officials had knowingly permitted officers to engage in violent behavior that disproportionately targeted African Americans.¹⁴

The family was represented by Bobby DiCello and Ken Abbarno of DiCello Levitt. DiCello characterized the state investigation as “a cover up and a protection for the officers involved.”¹⁵ The case was assigned to the complex litigation track in January 2024, and the court allowed the family to keep using pseudonyms for the eight officers while their identities remained under dispute at the Ohio Supreme Court.¹³

On October 21, 2024, the city and the family announced a settlement of $4.85 million, to be paid in four installments over four years. The city did not admit fault. A joint statement said, “We all agree: Akron should be a place where everyone is safe.”¹⁶ DiCello said the settlement involved “more than a dollar amount” and included “very important policy changes.”¹⁷ The federal case was formally terminated on February 28, 2025.¹³

Protests, Arrests, and Separate Lawsuits

The release of body-camera footage brought hundreds of demonstrators into the streets of Akron. Former Mayor Daniel Horrigan imposed a citywide curfew and established designated protest zones. Dozens of people were arrested over several days.¹⁸

Twenty-four people arrested between July 3 and July 7, 2022, later filed a federal lawsuit alleging unlawful detention. Among the plaintiffs were Jacob Blake Sr. and Bianca Austin, the aunt of Breonna Taylor. All 24 criminal cases against the protesters were dismissed or resulted in not-guilty verdicts. The city settled that lawsuit in February 2024 for $747,000, with Mayor Shammas Malik citing “fiscal responsibility” and the potential costs of continued litigation.¹⁹

A second protest-related suit arose after the April 2023 grand jury decision. The Akron Bail Fund sued the city, alleging that police used pepper spray and tear gas against peaceful demonstrators. That case settled in July 2024. The city agreed to hire an expert to develop new centralized crowd-control policies limiting the use of force, banning the punishment of free speech, and requiring police to document their responses. The city also agreed to hold at least one community forum on the draft policies and to pay $30,000 in attorney fees.²⁰

Reforms That Followed

Walker’s death drove several concrete changes to Akron policing. A new vehicle pursuit policy took effect on May 1, 2024, under Acting Chief Brian Harding. It prohibits officers from initiating a vehicle chase when the only offense is an equipment violation, the exact category that triggered the stop of Walker’s car. The policy also limits pursuits to two police vehicles, bans roadblocks, prohibits deliberate vehicle-to-vehicle contact except to prevent serious injury or death, and requires annual analysis of pursuit activity.²¹

In November 2022, Akron voters approved Issue 10 with 63% of the vote, creating a permanent Citizens’ Police Oversight Board. The nine-member board was seated in March 2023 and oversees the Office of the Independent Police Auditor.²² Anthony Finnell was appointed as the first independent police auditor in March 2024. His office operates independently of the police chain of command and reviews use-of-force incidents and citizen complaints. Since its inception, the office has reviewed 567 cases, concurring with the police department’s findings in about 91%, issuing recommendations for improvement in roughly 6%, and disagreeing outright in nearly 3%.²³

Several of Finnell’s recommendations have been adopted, including requiring body-worn cameras for school resource officers, expanding de-escalation training known as ICAT (Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics), and creating SCOUT (the Summit County Outreach Team), a mental health co-response unit that pairs officers with social workers.²³ Finnell has acknowledged limits: his office lacks authority to enforce discipline, and the department has sometimes maintained its original position despite his recommendations.²⁴

In May 2026, the city implemented a new use-of-force policy informed by a 136-page review conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum. The department committed to adopting all 58 of the review’s recommendations over a six-to-eighteen-month period, including more explicit policy language on valuing life and proportionate force.²⁵

Leadership changed as well. Chief Mylett retired on December 31, 2023. Brian Harding, a nearly 30-year veteran of the Akron Police Department, was named acting chief and then officially appointed by Mayor Shammas Malik on May 17, 2024, and sworn in on May 28.²⁶ Malik, who took office in early 2024, has made police reform central to his administration and called the use-of-force review “the most significant issue facing our city.”²⁷ Several goals sought by community activists remain unmet, including a residency requirement for officers and more comprehensive bias training.²⁸

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PBS NewsHour. Protests Erupt in Akron Ohio After Police Shooting of an Unarmed Black Man
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Cleveland.com. Akron to Pay $747,000 to Settle Lawsuit Over Arrests of Those Protesting Jayland Walker’s Killing
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Ideastream. Akron Police Must Create New Procedures for Policing Peaceful Protests After Tear Gas Lawsuit
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Ideastream. Chronicling a Community’s Pain and Calls for Change in the Year Since Jayland Walker’s Death
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Spectrum News 1. Office of the Independent Police Auditor for the City of Akron and the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board Share Their Annual Report
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Akron Beacon Journal. Akron Police Auditor Concurs With Majority of APD Internal Inquiries
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Signal Akron. What Akron Use of Force Review Could Mean for Police Accountability
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Ideastream. Akron Officially Names Brian Harding as New Police Chief
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Akron Beacon Journal. Akron Mayor Malik Talks Police Reform During State of the City Address Chase Policy
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Signal Akron. Two Years Later Reflections on Jayland Walker’s Death