Timothy Russell

Timothy Russell, 43, a Black man, and Malissa Williams, 30, a Black woman (see the separate entry for Malissa Williams), were killed on November 29, 2012, when 13 Cleveland police officers fired 137 shots into their car at the end of a roughly 22-mile chase involving 62 police vehicles. The chase began after Russell's car backfired near police headquarters and was mistaken for gunfire. Russell was struck 23 times. Only one officer, Michael Brelo, who fired 49 shots including 15 while standing on the car's hood, was charged with voluntary manslaughter; in May 2015 a judge acquitted him, finding prosecutors could not prove his shots, rather than others', caused the deaths. No one has been convicted in Russell's death.

Cleveland, OH · Cuyahoga 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 shooting and the prosecutions, per reporting by NPR, the Associated Press (via FOX 11), and WKYC and News 5 Cleveland on the supervisors' cases.
• On November 29, 2012, a pursuit that reached about 100 mph and involved 62 marked and unmarked cars ended with 13 officers firing 137 shots at Russell's 1979 Chevrolet Malibu; Russell was hit 23 times and Williams 24 times.
• The pursuit began when the car backfired while passing police headquarters; the report that the occupants had fired from the car was wrong, per NPR.
• AP described Russell and Williams as Black and said both were homeless and struggling with mental illness and drug addiction.
• Officer Michael Brelo, who is white, fired 49 shots, 15 of them while standing on the hood of the car after it had stopped, over a span of about seven and a half seconds.
• Brelo was the only officer charged in the shooting, with two counts of voluntary manslaughter. On May 23, 2015, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John P. O'Donnell found him not guilty in a bench trial, saying the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brelo's shots, and not those of the other officers, caused the deaths.
• Five police supervisors were separately charged with misdemeanor dereliction of duty for failing to control the chase. Cuyahoga County later dropped its case and East Cleveland brought its own charges; Sgt. Patricia Coleman was found not guilty by an East Cleveland jury in July 2019, and WKYC reported that charges against three others were dropped.
• The U.S. Department of Justice later found a pattern of excessive force by Cleveland police. The mayor said the other officers would face internal discipline.

• Which officer's shots caused each fatal wound was never established, which is what the judge cited in acquitting Brelo.
• The outcome for the last supervisor still charged in East Cleveland, Sgt. Randolph Dailey (spelled “Daley” in one report), is not stated in the sources reviewed.
• The ages of the victims come from the AP account; NPR's report did not give them.

• NPR — “Cleveland Officer Not Guilty In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Suspects”
• Associated Press via FOX 11 — “Ohio patrolman acquitted in 2 deaths amid 137-shot barrage”
• Ideastream — “Judge dismisses charges against 5 Cleveland police supervisors”
• WKYC — “Cleveland police supervisor found not guilty in connection with 137 shots case”
• News 5 Cleveland — “Not guilty verdict reached in the 137 shots fired case”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs