Two Ohio police officers were charged with reckless homicide in the death of a Black man who pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” during a police encounter, authorities announced Saturday.
Canton officers Camden Burch and Beau Schoenegge have been charged with reckless homicide in the April 18 death of Frank E. Tyson during a confrontation with police, Stark County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle L. Stone announced against at a news conference Saturday.
Burch and Schoenegge, both 24, were booked into jail Friday and remained in custody Saturday, NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland reported, citing cited inmate records.
Stone said he presented a grand jury with the results of an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation probe into Tyson’s death, which the agency completed in August. The grand jury approved the charges as part of an indictment.
The reckless homicide charge, a third-degree felony, could carry a 3-year sentence and a $10,000 fine for each defendant, if convicted, Stone said.
Representatives of state and local police organizations did not immediately respond to efforts seeking to reach the officers or their legal counsel for comment.
In a statement to the Canton Repository, Craig M. Riley, president of Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council Gold Unit, accused prosecutors of playing politics with the case just a few days from Tuesday’s election.
“True progress,” he said, “comes from collaboration, investment, and open communication — not from using our officers as well-timed scapegoats to score political points.”
The union represents Canton police supervisors, according to the Repository.
The Canton Police Department released Schoenegge’s body camera footage of the encounter a week later. The officers had responded to a vehicle crash with a downed utility pole and a witness directed them down the road at an AMVETS lodge, where they made contact with Tyson, police said.
According to the video, Tyson knocks over a barstool, shouted a request to call the sheriff, and says, “They’re trying to kill me,” as the officers try to get him into custody. He’s taken to the ground and handcuffed before one officer then appears to put a knee on Tyson’s upper body for roughly 30 seconds.
Tyson says multiple times, “I can’t breathe.”
An officer tells him to cooperate and calm down. Tyson says again, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,” before adding, “You’re on my neck.”
After the officer lifts his knee, Tyson is left without aid and appearing motionless for roughly 5 minutes, according to the video. An officer asks if Tyson has calmed down and whether he’s breathing, at which point his pulse is checked and officers perform chest compressions.
Tyson was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The preliminary autopsy report lists causes of death as cardiopulmonary arrest in association with physical altercation and prone restraint, as well as acute intoxication by cocaine and ethanol.
Schoenegge and Burch, both of whom joined the department in 2022 and are assigned to the traffic bureau, were placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
The death resonated with echoes of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in the spring of 2020 when an officer pressed a knee to Floyd’s neck as he repeated, “I can’t breathe.”
Before that, Eric Garner died after a July 17, 2014, confrontation with New York City police officers who stopped him to investigate the possible sale of loose, untaxed cigarettes on the street. He also pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” as an officer held him in a chokehold.
Bobby DiCello, attorney for Tyson’s family, said at a news conference after Stone addressed the news media that the charges mark progress toward justice.
“The prosecutor for Stark County acted with courage to bring charges to the grand jury,” he said. “This is how justice works—through acts of courage.”
John Tyson, brother of the victim, characterized the day’s news as an incremental move forward.
“It’s not the win we were looking for, but we will take this small win and build upon it,” he said.