Trial Begins For Indianapolis Officers Involved In Herman Whitfield’s Death During Mental Health Crisis

Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez are on trial for allegedly killing 39-year-old Herman Whitfield III in 2022.

Two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers are set to be tried for the killing of a Black man who was having a mental health crisis.

On April 25, 2022, police officers in Indianapolis were called by the parents of a man who was having a mental health crisis in their home. After the officers arrived, the man was tasered and killed by the police who arrived at the scene. After more than two years, the two police officers will go to trial on Dec. 2.

According to The Associated Press, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez, who were indicted by a grand jury a year after the incident took place, will stand trial in an Indianapolis courtroom. Both men have been charged with one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, and battery resulting in moderate injury, and one misdemeanor battery charge.

They were charged after responding to a 911 call from the parents of 39-year-old Herman Whitfield III, who was having a mental health breakdown at their house. After making the call, Ahmad and Sanchez showed up and found Whitfield naked and pacing inside the home. The officers, who were wearing body cameras, were seen trying to convince Whitfield to put on some clothes so they could take him to a hospital. Whitfield did not get dressed and moved from room to room, avoiding contact with the officers. As he ran past a table in the dining room, Sanchez allegedly utilized his taser, shocking Whitfield. After the victim fell, Sanchez, Ahmad, and other police officers gathered to try to handcuff Whitfield as he was face down on the floor.

Whitfield allegedly told the police officers that he “can’t breathe” several times before he goes silent. He was unresponsive when officers rolled him over to place handcuffs on him. After being taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled that Whitfield’s death was a homicide. The autopsy states that the cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdual, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use.”

It took almost a year for the officers to be indicted after Whitfield’s family demanded that the police department release videos from the body cams the officers were wearing. They requested that the six officers involved be terminated.

An attorney for the police officers, John Kautzman, said, “The only thing I’ll say on record, which I’ve said before, is we believe these officers did not commit any criminal actions whatsoever and that they shouldn’t be standing trial for crimes.”

Ahmad and Sanchez are currently on administrative leave.

Whitfield’s family has sued the police department and is seeking unspecified damages. The civil case will begin in July 2025 in federal court in Indianapolis.