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Family of man shot, killed by Indianapolis police speak following release of autopsy report

Family of man shot, killed by Indianapolis police speak following release of autopsy report
Posted at 1:22 PM, Aug 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-05 18:55:22-04

INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Coroner will be releasing the autopsy results to the family of Dreasjon Reed on the same day the family was planning a press conference to demand its release.

The 21-year-old man was shot and killed by an IMPD officer following a pursuit on May 6.

The Reed family lawyers had requested a copy of the autopsy report, which the Marion County Coroner's Office says was completed on June 12 and then sent to the special prosecutor, but were initially denied their request after the special prosecutor asked that the report not be released.

The Reed family had scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. on Aug. 5 outside the Marion County Coroner's Office to demand the report be released.

The Marion County Coroner issued a statement just after 10 a.m. saying they had received a decision from the Marion Superior Court that morning authorizing the release of the autopsy report to Reed's mother, Demetree Wynn.

After receiving the report from the coroner's office, Wynn still addressed the media gathered at the coroner's office.

"You can not do what you did to my son and tell me it was right," Wynn said. "I've been a nurse for 20 years and I'm not stupid. Don't insult my intelligence by assuming I don't know how to read. I know what it says. And if it was your child, I promise you, you couldn't stand here."

"I can't breathe, my heart hurts. But I'm still standing here and there ain't no way in hell you can do that to somebody else's kid and be okay with it," Wynn said. "If you're okay with it, let me do it to your son and I'm gonna show you how it feels. I promise you that."

The Special Prosecutor overseeing the case, Rosemary Khoury, released the following statement following the release of the report.

"The Marion County Superior Court has ruled to allow the release of the autopsy report by the Marion County Coroner to the family of Dreasjon Reed. We fully anticipate that the family attorney will adhere to the confidentiality requirements set forth by the Indiana Code which prohibits the release of certain information contained in the report. The State has petitioned the Court to allow for the investigation to be completed before releasing the report so that a thorough and complete investigation could be conducted. The investigation is still ongoing and the team respects and will adhere to the Court's decision as it works to provide as comprehensive an investigation as possible."

Khoury was appointed as the special prosecutor on June 4. On July 2, the court ordered IMPD and the Marion County lab to turn over all evidence to Indiana State Police. Khoury has until December 2021 to complete her investigation into the case.

WRTV's Katie Cox first reported this story.