'They are disappointed,' Joshua Johnson's family speaks out after meeting with Harris Co. DA's Office
HOUSTON - Nearly a week after a grand jury declined to indict an undercover deputy for the fatal shooting of a man last April, his family is set to speak to the public.
SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS
Congressman Al Green was joined by Johnson’s family late Thursday afternoon to take questions after meeting with representatives from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
RELATED: Family of Joshua Johnson react to grand jury decision
This comes days after a grand jury declined to formally charge an undercover deputy for shooting Johnson, 35 when he was parked in front of his neighbor’s home back in 2020.
RELATED: Family of Joshua Johnson react to grand jury decision
According to officials, on April 22, 2020, Johnson was watching over his sick neighbor's house in Missouri City. Johnson noticed a strange car in the neighborhood and approached the car with a BB gun.
The deputy was inside the car was working undercover looking for a murder suspect. That's when the deputy opened fire and shot Johnson multiple times.
In his initial comments during the press conference, Congressman Green said on behalf of the family, "they are disappointed, highly disappointed."
Congressman Green said this is because there were several questions left unanswered during their conversation with officials from the DA's Office such as a ballistics report or if a medical examiner was present during the trial.
"On the question of whether the medical examiner or some medical expert appeared before the grand jury, we did not get an answer," Green said. "The answer given was not one that we found favor with…because they are not allowed to tell us who appeared before the grand jury or what was said before the grand jury."
Admittedly, Green noted things were done diplomatically, although he doesn’t agree with the findings.
"I’m trying to be very fair to the District Attorney’s Office because they were consistent with their answers and in my opinion have handled this case the way they have previous cases," Green explained. "But I did tell them I didn’t agree with it. Because the case went before the grand jury without recommendation."
Furthermore, Green said on behalf of the family they are interested in understanding the officer’s actions during the incident with respect to transparency within the case.
"The family is disappointed," Green concluded.
Going forward, the family is expected to speak with the Sheriff’s Office to find out more information on the case including if the deputy-involved will face some sort of reprimand for this and an alleged previous incident.
"At some point, we have to ask ourselves what will it take to remove someone from the force with that kind of [dangerous] history," Green said.
Shortly afterward, James Hudson, a spokesperson for the Johnsons was livid in his criticism of how the case was handled.
"The killing of Joshua Johnson is the biggest cover-up in the history of Harris County," he claimed.