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Tony Elliott Singleton

Age : 53

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 11/06/2021

Location : Interstate 64 east of Interstate 295

City : Sandston

County : Henrico

State : Virginia

Agency : Henrico County Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Timothy Grant Million III

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after vehicle crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 11/06/2021, Henrico County Police Officer Timothy Grant Million III shot and killed Tony Elliott Singleton, 53, of Norfolk, after responding to a single-vehicle rollover crash on Interstate 64 east of the I-295 interchange in eastern Henrico County. Initial police reports stated that Singleton's vehicle had rolled several times and that Million fired during an encounter with the driver. Singleton was transported to a hospital, where he died.
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Two motorists who stopped to help after the crash later testified that Singleton appeared impaired and that they saw a knife in his waistband. A 911 dispatcher informed Million that the driver had a knife. Body-camera footage subsequently played in court showed Million repeatedly ordering Singleton to turn off the vehicle, show his hands and stop reaching around inside the vehicle.
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A civilian riding with Million testified that Singleton eventually got out of the crashed vehicle and approached Million. She described a physical confrontation between the two immediately before Million opened fire. She testified that she did not see anything in Singleton's hands and did not see him reach for the knife.
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Million fired seven times at Singleton. Prosecutors later argued that merely seeing the handle of a knife in Singleton's waistband did not justify the shooting and maintained that witnesses did not see Singleton reach for the knife. Million's defense maintained that Singleton moved his hands toward his waistband and that Million believed he faced an imminent deadly threat. A knife was recovered from Singleton's possession.
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The shooting resulted in an unusually significant criminal review. In February 2022, a special grand jury unanimously found probable cause to indict Million for voluntary manslaughter. Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor characterized the charge as reflecting circumstances in which an officer may have observed something and overreacted. Million was the only officer who fired at Singleton.
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Million's trial began in January 2023. Prosecutors argued that his use of deadly force was unreasonable, while the defense argued that he acted in self-defense. After the prosecution rested, the defense moved to strike the charge before the case went to the jury. On 01/25/2023, Judge Joseph Ellis granted the motion and dismissed the voluntary-manslaughter case, finding that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence for the charge to go to the jury.
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Body-camera footage publicly released after the dismissal showed that the encounter escalated from Million's arrival at the rollover scene to the fatal shooting within a short period. The footage became important evidence in the dispute over whether Singleton actually reached toward the knife before Million fired. Prosecutors maintained that the evidence did not establish such a movement, while Million's attorneys argued that it did.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Timothy Grant Million III was indicted for voluntary manslaughter in February 2022 for killing Singleton. A special grand jury unanimously found probable cause for the charge. The criminal case proceeded to trial in January 2023, but the judge dismissed the charge after the prosecution rested, ruling that the evidence was insufficient to send the voluntary-manslaughter charge to the jury.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://henrico.gov/assets/Henrico-Police-Media-Releases-2021.pdf
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/Tony-Singleton-obit
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/tim-million-indicted
https://www.12onyourside.com/2022/02/18/henrico-officer-indicted-deadly-interstate-shooting/
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/tony-singleton-death-timothy-million-iii-trial-day-one-january-23-2023
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/henrico-officer-million-case-dismissed-jan-25-2023
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/fatal-henrico-police-shooting-video-january-25-2023
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/police-officer-indicted-in-deadly-november-shooting-in-virginia