Ramarley Graham was an 18-year-old Black male who was fatally shot by a plainclothes NYPD officer on February 2, 2012, in the Bronx. Officers from the Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit had been surveilling a bodega, reported seeing Graham adjust his waistband, and followed him to his grandmother’s apartment building. Surveillance footage showed Graham entering the building calmly; officers then forced entry through the rear and an officer kicked down the apartment door without a warrant.

Plainclothes officer Richard Haste entered the apartment and shot Graham once in the chest in the bathroom as Graham attempted to flush a bag of marijuana. The shooting occurred in front of Graham’s grandmother and his six-year-old brother. No weapon was recovered at the scene. Graham was taken to a nearby medical center and pronounced dead.

Criminal proceedings were attempted against Haste: he was charged with manslaughter in June 2012 but the indictment was dismissed because of a prosecutorial error; a second grand jury in 2013 declined to re-indict. Federal prosecutors also declined civil rights charges. The city later settled a wrongful-death suit with Graham’s family for $3.9 million. An internal NYPD process found Haste guilty on administrative charges in March 2017 and recommended termination; he resigned before being fired. Sergeant Scott Morris was suspended for 30 days without pay and later resigned, and Officer John McLoughlin’s departmental case was settled.