My cousin Tamir was only 12-years-old when he was shot and killed last year by a Cleveland police officer as he played in a park with a toy gun. Timothy Loehmann, an officer in training, shot and killed Tamir within two seconds of arriving at the park. The police car hadn’t even fully stopped before he began shooting.

He shot my little cousin so quickly it would have been impossible for him to tell Tamir to drop the toy airsoft gun, much less for Tamir to respond to them.

Tamir’s killing was captured on camera. That should have been all that was needed to charge the officer. But next month marks a full year since his death and the County Prosecutor, Timothy McGinty, has still not even presented this case to a grand jury to determine if charges will be filed against the officers.

This is unacceptable. Timothy McGinty needs to be replaced with a special prosecutor, who are used in high-profile cases, to ensure that there isn’t bias.

Our family believes that McGinty is clearly biased and in favor of the officers. This week he released two “expert” reviews which sided with the officers even though neither of the review writers had even interviewed the officers.

Please join Tamir’s family in calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed to this case.