Family of black woman found burned in ‘ready to fight’ dumpster after racist police charges dropped

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screenshot / Nicole Reason

Mykaella Sharlman’s family is ready to fight after Northern California prosecutors dropped charges against the two police officers charged with her death, NBC News reports.

Ashton Montalvo and Deangelo Boone have been charged with arson and mutilation of human remains after they allegedly moved Sharlmans’ body into a dumpster and set it on fire in 2022. While both officers have pleaded not guilty, Sharlmans’ sister, Nicole Eason, said dropping the charges was unacceptable, and prosecutors should recant and review evidence, including security videos and eyewitness accounts, which she believes are too difficult to pass. We were preparing to get a lawyer, Eason said. Prepared to fight.

Medical examiners say the victim died earlier in the day on Oct. 17 from a fentanyl overdose, Newsone reports. According to police, Boone and Montalvo found Sharlman’s body in an abandoned apartment, moved it to a dumpster and lit it in a fight with lighter fluid instead of reporting it. Since then, the Antioch Police Department has been under investigation after several racist text messages using racist slurs, making racist jokes and sharing racist memes surfaced.

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case citing its connection to the investigation. A dismissal at this point gives the district attorney’s office the opportunity to re-file criminal charges against Montalvo and Boone and reinitiate legal action if new evidence develops, the office wrote in a statement. The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office no longer has confidence in the integrity of this prosecution. Our office extends its deepest condolences to the family of Mykaella Sharlman and we aspire to renew this lawsuit should the opportunity arise.

While the Sharlmans family learned that one of the detectives involved in the case was part of the racist investigation, they don’t think it should have anything to do with his case. This scandal came out after my sister died, Eason said. This should not have affected the evidence.

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