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No charges will be filed against the Brevard County deputy who fatally shot two Black teenagers in Cocoa on Nov. 13.
Sixteen-year-old Angelo Crooms and 18-year-old Sincere Pierce were inside what was believed to be a stolen Volkswagen Passat when they were shot to death by Deputy Jafet Santiago-Miranda.
State Attorney Phil Archer said in his statement that he ran an exhaustive investigation and that, while he knows the boys’ families are hurting, he is basing his decision on “facts and evidence.”
The teenagers were not in a stolen car, but Archer said the vehicle they occupied was “almost identical” to the one reported stolen and that he believes the deputy’s actions at the time were “reasonable and lawful.”