Officers Found Not Guilty in Death of Herman Whitfield III

Indianapolis, IN — After a five-day criminal trial and just two hours of deliberation on Dec. 6, a jury found police officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez not guilty of reckless homicide, battery and manslaughter in the April 2022 death of Herman Whitfield III. Indianapolis police (IMPD) responded to a call by Whitfields’ parents for medical assistance and tased and suffocated him to death within 15 minutes.

Among those who testified was Dr. Bill Smock, a forensics expert who testified in the Derek Chauvin trial. Dr. Smock, who usually testifies for prosecutors, switched roles to testify in the officers’ defense. He said Herman Whitfield III died from a “bad trip” caused by THC gummies that caused his already at-risk heart to stop. Despite the autopsy report noting Herman III’s cause of death as a homicide by “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdual, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use,” Dr. Smock said he believed Herman III died from cardiac arrest while the police were handcuffing him.

The state argued against the defense’s theory of death by THC, pointing out that that ignores the rest of the circumstances: the tasing and the police pummeling and the placing Herman III in a prone position for an extended period of time.

During the trial, the defense said Herman III had past adverse reactions to THC and because of his enlarged heart, he died before the officers put him in the prone position, so therefore it was not their fault he died.

Ahmad and Sanchez were indicted in April 2023 and placed on paid administrative duty. They were two of six officers who responded to the call for medical help. No officers have faced discipline for the death of Herman III, who was a 39-year-old musical prodigy. Two officers have been promoted.

In the years leading up to the trial, several volunteer organizers with the Justice for Herman Whitfield III Campaign spoke to Unicorn Riot about Herman III and his in-custody death. See the videos below.