Family calls for federal investigation of Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - The death of their 19-year-old son has one family asking the federal government to investigate his death.

Da’Shawn Tye, 19, allegedly tried to rob Mages Grocery on Glenway Avenue back on Nov. 19, 2020. On the day of the fatal shooting, Tye backed the owner into a corner, so the owner got his gun and shot Tye, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said in December.

Tye ran from the store and was later found by police with multiple gunshot wounds. He would later die at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said no charges would be filed against the store owner, whom the prosecutor said was acting in self-defense.

But now, just two days ago, Tye’s family obtained new documents which are leading them to the federal government to ask for an investigation.

The documents the family say disputes a claim Deters made in December. The prosecutor said Tye had attempted to rob the grocery store twice before on Aug. 8 and Nov. 14.

The family’s attorney says the robbery reports do not indicate the same person tried to rob the store in all three attempts.

“The robbery report does not indicate that this is the same person that robbed on Aug. 8, or this is the person that is known to me, who’s been in my store before, who lives across the street, or next door, to the owner,” says Attorney Fanon Rucker. “None of that information is in the robbery report that was written at the time of the incident.”

This is why Tye’s family is asking the federal government to step in and investigate.

Just because the family is asking the Department of Justice for an investigation doesn’t mean the DOJ will.

Tye’s family talked with FOX19 NOW previously in December.

They said at the time this is all a case of mistaken identity and the store owner should be held accountable.

“He was a big young boy, but he was so gentle to us, and loving, and caring,” Tye’s step-mother, Lacey Morgan said.

The family says they still can’t understand why Tye was fatally shot.

“He was very lovable, you know, the things they are saying on the media just does not sit well with us,” Morgan said, “because we do not know that to be Da’Shawn. We know him to be a completely different type of person.”

The family is asking for the evidence to be publicized that led Deters to his conclusion.

“We don’t have any video camera or any interviews,” Rucker said in December. “We don’t have anything to support the idea that this was the person who did anything at that store anytime before, other than went in and made purchases.”

Rucker says this isn’t a case of self-defense because he says Tye was not armed and did not have a criminal record.

Rather, Rucker says it’s a case of a frustrated store owner taking the law into his own hands when he allegedly shot Tye from several feet away.

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