INDIANAPOLIS -- Prosecutors will not file charges in the fatal shooting of an Indianapolis KFC employee at her job last month, saying the shooting was justified under Indiana’s self-defense statute.
Quiana Lashawn Toussaint, 20, was shot at the KFC where she worked at 7215 N. Michigan Road on May 19. She was pronounced dead at an Indianapolis hospital three days later.
The shooting was one of half-a-dozen fatal incidents in Indianapolis over a three-day period in what ended as one of the deadliest May’s in city history.
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Investigators initially described the case as a death investigation, and a monthly homicide update provided by IMPD Monday listed the motive for Toussaint’s shooting as “stopping a felony in-progress.”
The @MCProsecutors will not file charges in the fatal 5/19 shooting of Quiana Lashawn Toussaint, 20, at a northwest side KFC, citing Indiana's self-defense statute. pic.twitter.com/YJPo2VSgrx
— Jordan Fischer (@Jordan_RTV6) June 6, 2018
On Wednesday, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to RTV6 that no charges would be filed in the case.
A spokesman for the office said the investigation revealed Toussaint was armed with a gun at the time of the shooting. Police said the evidence indicated that Toussaint brandished her firearm, which ultimately resulted in the shooting.
In a response to RTV6, the prosecutor’s office cited Indiana’s self-defense statute, which says that people are justified in using deadly force to prevent the commission of a forcible felony, as a basis for the decision not the file charges.
IC 35-41-3-2(c)
(c) A person is justified in using reasonable force against any other person to protect the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person: (1) is justified in using deadly force; and (2) does not have a duty to retreat; if the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony. No person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting the person or a third person by reasonable means necessary.
A review of IMPD incident reports shows Toussaint was involved in an intimidation/disturbance with a gun report three days earlier in the 1000 block of West 26th Street, as well as a pointing a firearm investigation in the 400 block of North Sherman Drive on April 5.
A search of her name also turned up a vandalism report at the McDonald’s at 3021 Southeastern Avenue on January 3.
RTV6 reached out to Toussaint's family following the prosecutor's announcement Tuesday. They declined to comment.
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