New Mexico State Police says it will investigate the shooting death of a black male by his Albuquerque neighbor after complaints by civil rights groups.
State police said Thursday the agency has agreed to conduct a thorough review into the March 2013 death of Jonathan Mitchell, an Iraq War veteran. Authorities say the 24-year-old Mitchell was fatally shot by neighbor Donnie Pearson during what Pearson described as an exchange of gunfire.
But Albuquerque chapters of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have disputed Pearson's version and said he instigated the confrontation. They also suggested race may have played a factor.
Albuquerque police later said investigators didn't have probable cause to charge Pearson.
According to state police, Albuquerque Police Department, the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office and Mitchell's family asked for the review.
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