Shooting of Autumn Steele

Shooting of Autumn Steele

A photograph of Autumn Steele
Date	January 6, 2015 (2015-01-06)
Time	c. 10:25 a.m.
Location	104 S. Garfield Avenue, Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Coordinates	40.8096739988455°N 91.11879833042622°W / 40.8096739988455; -91.11879833042622
Filmed by	Police body and dash cameras
Participants	Autumn Steele (fatality) Jesse Hill (police officer)
Outcome	Wrongful Death
Deaths	Autumn Mae Steele

The shooting of Autumn Steele, a 34-year-old Burlington, Iowa woman, occurred on January 6, 2015, in Burlington, Iowa.

Incident

Autumn Steele had just been released from jail after being arrested for assaulting her husband, Gabriel. On January 6, 2015, Officer Jesse Hill was dispatched to the Steele home in response to a domestic-disturbance call.

Police said when Hill arrived, Autumn was screaming at and attacking Gabriel (who was holding their young child). Hill said the family dog bit him as he was trying to protect the husband and child. He said he tried shooting the dog twice, but he slipped. One of his bullets hit Autumn Steele in her torso; she later died of her injuries. A neighbor told a local newspaper the officer was trying to break up the Steele's argument and was startled by the couple's dog.

During the course of the investigation, the Steeles' German Shepherd was confiscated by the police department under a search warrant and was placed in the city's dog pound for observation. The dog was later deemed "not vicious" and returned. Officer Hill was treated for at least one dog bite.

Objections To Police Account

• Witnesses said they never saw the Steele's dog bite Officer Hill;

• Steele's husband said Officer Hill unholstered his weapon as soon as he got out of his police vehicle and saw the dog;

• The family claims that Hill was never directly threatened by the dog, but reacted only out of an irrational fear of the animal. They also say Autumn Steele's death was not an accident because, they say, Hill intentionally drew his weapon and intentionally fired it in the direction of a human being who died.

Judicial response

On February 27, 2015, Des Moines County Attorney Amy Beavers provided a 7-page letter to the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations stating that she would not prosecute Hill under manslaughter charges. The Associated Press reported that Beavers said her decision was supported by body camera evidence, witness statements, and reports from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Hill had to make an instantaneous decision as the threat was occurring, Beavers said. Adam J. Klein, an attorney who represents Steele's 7-year-old son, said in a news release that Beavers' statement made it appear she reached her "determination by simply ignoring Iowa law".

Klein said Beavers ignored a part of Iowa law that says involuntary manslaughter, as an aggravated misdemeanor, is punishable "...[w]hen the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury."

The Steele family and transparency-advocacy groups have pushed for all body-camera footage related to the incident to be released, including by pursuing legal action.

Attorneys representing the City of Burlington and the Burlington Police Department filed an appeal to dismiss the open records violation case against them in January 2017. Administrative Law Judge Karen Doland dismissed the appeal exclaiming that the case has merit and should be ruled. The hearing was going to be held on April 19th but was postponed. Instead, another pretrial conference will be held that day It was determined from the pretrial conference that the hearing will be set on August 29th. However several claims were dismissed in the lawsuit due to U.S District Judge James E. Gritzner granting approval for City of Burlington's attorneys but denied dropping the suit entirely .

On July 20, 2017, the Iowa Public Information Board voted in favor to file an administrative contest against the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the Burlington Police Department. This comes to a response to the two parties requesting the board for an "interlocutory" review on the grounds that inventory of the records were not relevant to the state's open records laws. The administrative trial could begin as early as August 17th but could be delayed due to this recent vote.

In 2016, Des Moines County Attorney Beavers was found by the Iowa Public Information Board to have violated the Open Records Law after giving conflicting statements of accounts. She agreed to settle with the board to pay a $200 fine in exchange in not having to admit guilt.

During a deposition hearing in May 2018, an attorney representing the Steele family proclaimed that officer Hill never made any complaints of injuries in the unedited footage. It was argued that Hill contradicted from what he had provided to a report to what was happening on video.

Other response

Unsubstantiated bomb threats were made to Burlington City Council members in December. Police say they are linked to the shooting.

On November 16, 2016, a lawsuit was filed by the family of Steele against the City of Burlington and officer Hill in response to the shooting. On June 6, 2018, a settlement was reached between the city and the Steele family. When the Burlington City Manager was asked if the suit would have a financial impact on the city's insurance or its future contracts longterm, he was not certain.

Following the suit, public watchdog group Iowa Freedom of Information Council filed a motion to request a federal judge to release records in full and to intervene in the case.

Release of video

On September 12, 2018, the body cam video of the incident was released. During the video, Hill said to his partner "Oh, my God, no! Oh, fuck, Tim! Shit, Tim! I’m fucking going to prison, Tim!"