DA to prosecute former San Leandro officer in Steven Taylor shooting

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) — Former San Leandro police officer Jason Fletcher appeared in court on voluntary manslaughter charges for the shooting of Steven Taylor inside a Walmart in April 2020.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s office will prosecute the case, following a decision made by the judge during the hearing at the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland.

“I miss him so much,” said Steven Taylor’s mother, Sharon Taylor.

Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen, stated, “The only justice we’re going to get is Steven is going to come back and we know that’s going to happen. So, we just want them to do their job.”

Cell phone video from the incident shows San Leandro police confronting Taylor inside the Walmart, where he was reportedly waving a baseball bat.

Fletcher attempted to use his taser before shooting Taylor in the chest, resulting in Taylor’s death.

Fletcher’s attorney argued for the case’s dismissal, citing previously undisclosed accounts from use-of-force experts claiming the shooting was justified, but the case was not dismissed.

Taylor’s family claims he was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time of the shooting and has filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Fletcher and the city of San Leandro.

The next hearing is scheduled for October 31, leaving the family waiting for accountability.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.