TEMPLE, TX — A year without answers. This evening is the anniversary of the Temple officer-involved shooting which left the 28-year-old father of three, Michael Dean, dead.
A year of questions, the only answers coming from the affidavit filed last February. But the video of what happened the night of Dean's death is still unseen by all who demand it, including Michael Dean's family.
Horrified by this scene, Temple's masses asked how could this happen.
"We have to know what happen with Michael Dean"
"Truth don't need any support to stand up truth will stand up by itself"
December 2nd last year Michael Dean, a 28-year-old father of three was out picking up gifts and the cake for his daughter’s birthday but he'd never make it home.
In what’s described as a routine speeding traffic stop ended with Dean being shot in the head.
This affidavit provided by bell county describes the only details released to the public, including Dean's loved ones.
“With them not releasing the bodycam footage or at least letting us see it, as a family member, not releasing it to the public, that would show us what went down“
We spoke with Dean's younger brother Jeremy this week who relives his loss daily.
“It eats me up every day that I’m in this truck”
In the dash and body camera footage not yet released, former Temple police officer Carmen DeCruz was described in the affidavit to have pulled Dean over for speeding, while approaching dean's vehicle on foot with his gun drawn DeCruz requests the car be shut off and the keys given to him. As he reached into the vehicle with his left hand for the keys, the gun in his right hand-fired, shooting Dean in the head. Lifesaving measures were attempted but Dean was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I sit in my truck and try to reconstruct the crime scene, and reconstruct everything that I can think that could have possibly happened during the situation and none of it’s adding up“
The Dean family Attorney Lee Merrit met with us prior to the grand jury's decision on charges.
"We're still hoping the grand jury will consider the facts and come up with an indictment on murder"
But DeCruz resigned from Temple PD and was arrested on February 10th for second-degree manslaughter, a charge that doesn't sit well with the Dean family after meeting with Bell County District Attorney Henery Garza.
"He seems content with the charge of manslaughter, we are not."
The last time I spoke with District Attorney Garza he explained the dash and body camera video will not be provided until presented at trial before a judge or jury and not before.
DeCruz was released in March when his half-million-dollar bond was reduced to 80 thousand dollars.
According to both the Bell County District Attorney's office and DeCruz's attorney a pretrial date is set for January 15, 2021.
