Attorney General James’ Office of Special Investigation Releases Report on Death of Vilmond Jean-Baptiste

August 19, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James' Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Vilmond Jean-Baptiste, who died on September 13, 2024 following an encounter with members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn. After a thorough investigation, which included review of body-worn camera footage and police reports, including NYPD Crime Scene Unit (CSU) reports, interviews with involved officers and civilian witnesses, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers' actions were justified under New York law.

At 5:21 p.m. on September 13, members of the NYPD's Brooklyn North Warrant Squad entered an apartment in Brooklyn to serve a warrant. Once inside, the officers encountered Mr. Jean-Baptiste, who was hiding in the shower and holding a knife. Officers repeatedly instructed Mr. Jean-Baptiste to drop the knife, and one officer yelled, "you will get Tased or shot!" Mr. Jean-Baptiste did not drop the knife and threw a bottle from the shower at officers. One sergeant attempted to deploy his Taser, but it failed. Mr. Jean-Baptiste then emerged from the shower, still holding the knife, and moved toward officers. Three officers discharged their service weapons, striking Mr. Jean-Baptiste. Mr. Jean-Baptiste was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Under New York's justification law, a police officer may use deadly physical force when the officer reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend against the use of deadly physical force by another. In this case, officers arrived to arrest Mr. Jean-Baptiste on a warrant. When officers encountered Mr. Jean-Baptiste, he had a knife in his hand and ignored at least 11 commands from officers to drop it. Mr. Jean-Baptiste instead threw a bottle at officers, and after a Taser deployment from one sergeant failed, Mr. Jean-Baptiste advanced toward officers, holding the knife in his hand. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers' use of deadly physical force against Mr. Jean-Baptiste was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.