Killing of Adam Toledo

On March 29, 2021, Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Latino American boy, was shot and killed by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer Eric Stillman in the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago at 2:38 a.m. local time.

On April 10, during a proffer reading in court for criminal charges filed against the adult who gave Toledo the handgun involved in the incident, a Cook County assistant prosecutor falsely told the judge that Toledo was holding the gun at the time Toledo was shot; the assistant prosecutor was later placed on administrative leave for this statement. On April 15, Stillman's body cam video recording was released, showing Toledo running away and dropping a handgun before he turned towards Stillman and raised his empty hands. According to the Chicago Police Department, Stillman shot at the boy less than a second after he dropped the gun. An area resident who said she witnessed the shooting from her apartment window across the street said that Toledo was complying with the officer's requests when he was shot.

The release of the body cam video sparked protests in Chicago and around the country. Toledo was one of the youngest people killed by the police in the state of Illinois in years. His death has been connected by some analysts to a broader pattern of disproportionate police violence against Latinos and other children of color. It also occurred as the United States was grappling with several high-profile cases of police killing unarmed people of color.

In May 2021, the First Assistant State's Attorney who had reviewed the inaccurate proffer was forced to resign. In March 2022, authorities announced there would be no criminal charges brought against the officer involved in the killing of Toledo. The Assistant State's Attorney who gave the inaccurate proffer later became a judicial candidate in 2023.

People involved

Adam Toledo

Adam Toledo (May 26, 2007 – March 29, 2021) was Mexican American. At the time of his death, he was a seventh-grader in the special-education program at Gary Elementary School from the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. He had no prior criminal record and was 13 years old when he was killed.

Ruben Roman

Ruben Roman is a 21-year-old who was with Toledo. He was arrested by the CPD at the scene. He is alleged to have ties to the Latin Kings criminal gang.

Eric Stillman

Eric Stillman is the 34-year-old police officer who shot Toledo. He has worked for the CPD since 2015. He was placed on administrative leave for 30 days following the incident. On May 6, 2021, it was announced Stillman had not returned to the CPD, though his routine leave had already ended.

On March 15, 2022, Kim Foxx’s office announced Stillman would not be charged for killing Toledo, due to “insufficient evidence” to file criminal charges. In April 2023, disciplinary charges alleging multiple rule violations in relation to Toledo's shooting were filed against Stillman, and the Department recommended that Stillman be fired. The decision regarding Stillman would be decided by the Chicago Police Board.

Incident

Initial reports

Prosecutors alleged that at around 2:30 a.m., Toledo and Roman were walking toward 24th Street when Roman fired multiple rounds as a vehicle passed. Police ShotSpotter detector technology registered shots fired and a squad car arrived at the scene. According to a statement from prosecutors, Toledo ran away from the officers that arrived, was chased into an alleyway, turned back to the officers with a gun in his hand, and was then shot by officer Eric Stillman in the chest. The police said that a handgun was recovered at the scene from behind a fence.

Around 5:00 a.m., a CPD spokesman tweeted "one subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation." Around 4:00 p.m., the department released an official press release stating, "One armed offender fled from the officers. A foot pursuit ensued which resulted in a confrontation". Several days later, Cook County prosecutor James Murphy issued a statement in court alleging that Toledo was armed when he was killed. Following the public release of body cam footage, Murphy was placed on administrative leave over the statements, and the Cook County State's Attorney opened an internal investigation into the matter, including into whether or not Murphy had access to the footage at the time he made them. On May 5, 2021, Murphy's supervisor, First Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Coleman, was forced to resign when it was determined that she failed to prepare Murphy correctly with late minute additions to what material facts were known at the time.

Body cam footage

Body cam footage of Toledo's shooting, released on April 15, 2021, showed that Toledo was unarmed at the moment he was shot. The video shows officer Stillman chasing Toledo into the alleyway and yelling at him to stop. Toledo slows down and stops as Stillman catches up to him. In footage taken from another angle, Toledo appears to throw a pistol behind a fence just before turning to face the officer (body cam footage shows a pistol being recovered behind the fence two minutes after the shooting). Stillman yells "Show me your fucking hands" and "drop it" while flashing a strobe flashlight at him. Toledo turns around with his empty hands in the air, and Stillman then shoots Toledo as he does so.

According to the CPD, there were 838 milliseconds (0.838 or ⁵⁄₆ of a second) "between gun shown in hand and single shot".

After shooting Toledo, officer Stillman called for medical assistance and began to perform CPR on him. Toledo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigations and legal proceedings

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for reforms to how police pursue individuals on foot and called for a "thorough, expeditious" investigation.

Autopsy

On May 6, a Chicago medical examiner concluded Adam was killed by "a single bullet which entered the left side of his chest and exited the right side of his back".

Stillman investigation

On April 19, 2021, it was reported that Stillman had been interviewed by Cook County prosecutors as a part of their review of Toledo's death. That same day, it was reported Stillman had been listed as a victim on an incident report, which one law-enforcement expert said was a tactic used to shift the "focus of culpability and blame onto the actual victim of the police deadly-force incident, i.e., the person who the police killed." Stillman was ultimately not charged for the killing.

Roman charges

Ruben Roman, the 21-year-old who was arrested on the night of Toledo's death, was charged with felony counts of child endangerment, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm. He was released on bail on April 19, 2021, after the Chicago Community Bond Fund paid his bond. A representative of the organization stated, “We are aware that the city will continue to use him as a scapegoat for the killing of Adam Toledo, which was committed by the Chicago Police Department.” In 2022, Roman was acquitted on the weapons charges.

State's Attorney investigation

On April 17, 2021, Kim Foxx, the Cook County State's Attorney, announced an investigation into why prosecutor's earlier descriptions of the shooting of Adam Toledo hadn't matched the video. Later that day, Foxx's office announced James Murphy, the prosecutor who had provided the "misleading" description of the video, would be placed on administrative leave. During a press conference on April 22, Foxx addressed the investigation, saying, "This is about the expectation of law enforcement to be forthright and transparent. There is no sacrificial lamb here. This is about making sure that we get it right and when we don't get it right, owning it doing what we need to do to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

After Foxx admitted that she had neither watched the full video nor reviewed Murphy's statements prior to the court hearing, individuals such as a former-Representative Luis Gutierrez criticized her office. Gutierrez stated, "I would’ve spoken out earlier. I would've reached out. But you know what I thought? I said, the kid had a gun. He pointed it at the police officer. And then I saw the video. I didn't see a gun. What I saw was a frightened 13-year-old kid getting shot by a police officer."

On May 5, Foxx' office announced it had concluded its investigation, stating that Murphy "did not intend to give the impression that Adam Toledo was holding a gun when shot," that he had returned to his assignment, and was no longer on leave. First Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Coleman announced she would resign following the office's investigation.