Kendrec McDade

Kendrec McDade, 19, a college student, was shot seven times and killed by Pasadena, California Police Officers Jeffrey Newlen and Matthew Griffin on March 24, 2012, after they chased him down a residential street responding to a 911 call describing an armed robbery. The caller, Oscar Carrillo, had lied about the robbers being armed and mentioned a gun eight times to get a faster police response; his backpack had in fact been stolen from his car in an unarmed burglary. McDade, who was unarmed, was shot while reportedly reaching toward his waistband as he ran. He was left handcuffed on the ground for roughly eight minutes before paramedics arrived, his last words reportedly "Why did they shoot me?" The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office cleared both officers of criminal wrongdoing in December 2012, finding they acted in lawful self-defense. Carrillo separately pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of filing a false police report, receiving 90 days in jail — the only criminal conviction connected to the case. No officer has ever been charged in McDade's death.

Pasadena, CA · Los Angeles County

• 2012: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The false 911 call, the chase, and the shooting, per the Pasadena Police Department, the LA County District Attorney's charge evaluation, and Carrillo's own admissions.
• Carrillo admitted he lied about the robbers being armed, mentioning a gun eight times during the 911 call, to get police to respond faster; no gun or stolen merchandise was ever found on McDade.
• McDade was shot seven times, per the autopsy, and was left handcuffed on the ground for roughly eight minutes before receiving medical attention, according to his family's attorney.
• The LA County District Attorney's Office announced in December 2012, after an eight-month investigation, that officers Newlen and Griffin acted in lawful self-defense and would not be charged, concluding McDade's motion toward his waistband was consistent with reaching for a firearm.
• Oscar Carrillo pleaded guilty in 2013 to two misdemeanor counts of filing a false police report, receiving a 90-day jail sentence, 90 days of community service, and a $3,000 fine payable to the Pasadena Police Department; prosecutors had declined to charge him with involuntary manslaughter.
• McDade's parents separately settled federal civil rights lawsuits against the City of Pasadena in 2014, with settlement amounts not publicly disclosed.

• Whether McDade's motion toward his waistband while running away actually resembled reaching for a weapon, as officers maintained, or was an ambiguous gesture given he had no weapon at all, was disputed by the family's attorney, who characterized "waistband shootings" as a recurring pattern in the region, and was never tested at a criminal trial.
• Why officers did not provide first aid during the roughly eight minutes McDade was handcuffed and reportedly still speaking has not been fully addressed in any official public accounting.
• The scene was in a dark, mixed-use area with no independent civilian witnesses, per police, meaning the officers' own accounts formed the primary basis for the self-defense finding.

• NBC News — “Cops' fatal shooting of unarmed Calif. man was 'lawful,' DA rules”
• CBS Los Angeles — “911 Caller Pleads Guilty To False Report That Led To Teen's Killing By Pasadena Police”
• Law Offices of Caree Harper — “Kendrec McDade Case” (family attorney case summary)
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs