Charges Dropped Against Teen Arrested Following Kiwane Carrington Incident

Charges have been dropped against a Champaign teen whose friend was fatally shot in a scuffle with city police last fall.

16-year old Jeshaun Manning-Carter was charged with resisting a peace officer in connection to that confrontation on October 9th. Kiwane Carrington died after being shot in that incident... after a report of a break-in at a home on West Vine Street. Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Reitz says Manning-Carter has upheld his end of the bargain by staying in school, staying out of trouble, and completing a 6-week county-funded counseling program called Parenting with Love and Limits with his mother. Rietz says dropping charges against the youth was not based on an inability to prove them. She says the goal of this case, as with any other in the juvenile justice system, is to set a youth on the right track.

"If he had not finished the program, if he was not going to school, if he was getting in trouble, I would have gone forward with the trial if that was what we needed to do," says Rietz. "This is not a question of whether or not we had the evidence to support the charges. It's simply the standard operating procedure in juvenile court when we're trying to get kids the help that they need." Rietz says counselors maintain contact with the teen's family, and he'll continue to attend the READY school in Champaign.

Rietz concluded in December that Champaign officer Daniel Norbits fired accidentally, and would not face criminal charges from the incident. He remains on paid administrative leave. The results of a city of Champaign investigation into police policy are expected next week. Two experts outside the city... Retired Urbana Police Chief Eddie Adair and retired McLean County Judge John Freese are conducting that study, but any changes to policy will be up to City Manager Steve Carter.