BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The family of Ronald Greene gathered in Baton Rouge Thursday night as a Union Parish grand jury’s decision about criminal charges for those involved in Greene’s deadly arrest was released.
The grand jury decided to charge five Louisiana law enforcement officers. Louisana State Police Master Trooper Kory York faces the most serious charges out of the five. He was charged with negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office.
“It took a couple of hours but it took three and half years to get to this point so we could wait a couple of hours for justice,” said Attorney Ron Hayley. “We are not here without the relentless strength of the Greene family. For three and a half years this has been their life. Their life to make sure that their son, their brother, their father, their cousin, their nephew, their family, their friend receive justice and no one would forget their name. This is a historic day in Louisiana.”
Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, spoke on the need for accountability at the Baton Rouge presser and added that the work seeking justice is not finished.
“If not, you’re condoning the killing of Ronald Greene,” said Hardin. “You’re okay with my son being murdered if you just give a slap on the wrist because these are badged officials who take it upon themselves to be judge, jury, and execution, and all I can say is this is a beginning of a lot. We’re not done by a long shot.”
Hardin claims she invited Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to the press conference, however, he did not appear.
“All I can say is this is a beautiful state and for those that are politically in charge you have all it takes to fix this mess,” said Hardin. “It’s nasty, it’s evil what happens here. Your children shouldn’t have to be mindful of where they are and what time of the hour, night it is to play and be free. This is really shameful for the fact that it’s consistent.”
Gov. Edwards has been asked to testify in front of a special committee regarding what he did or did not know and when about Greene’s deadly arrest. The governor has publicly denied that he or anyone in his administration attempted to delay or interfere with the death investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
