A former Fairfax County police officer was sentenced Friday to three years behind bars for his conviction in the deadly shooting of a fleeing shoplifter.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows handed down the three-year prison term to former sergeant Wesley Shifflett, 36, after a jury found the ex-cop guilty of reckless handling of a firearm in the fatal February 2023 incident outside Tysons Corner Center.
Shifflett was acquitted of his most serious charge — involuntary manslaughter — in the shooting that killed 37-year-old thief Timothy Johnson.
The former sergeant expressed his “deepest and heartfelt condolences to the Johnson family” shortly before his sentence was delivered in the crowded courtroom.
“This is a victory for everyone, and I don’t say ‘victory’ as any kind of loose term, because it will not bring our son back. But I do want to acknowledge that this is historical and unprecedented, and for that I am grateful,” Melissa Johnson, Timothy Johnson’s mother, said in a statement after the hearing.
Shifflett was booked into jail Friday night. The former cop’s defense attorneys told WRC-TV they will appeal the ruling.
Police union reps previously accused Fairfax County’s top prosecutor of pushing a “politically motivated” case that was determined to secure a conviction.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, a Democrat who has been backed by left-wing billionaire George Soros, received court approval for a special grand jury into the shooting after an initial grand jury declined to indict Shifflett.
The special grand jury gave Mr. Descano greater influence in the charging process.
“Instead of honoring this decision, Mr. Descano opted to bypass standard legal procedures and convene a special grand jury,” the union said following the jury’s October verdict. “This demonstrated his continued manipulation of the judicial system, one that he has sworn to uphold, in favor of avenues that further his personal political agendas.”
Shifflett shot and killed Johnson in a wooded area near Tysons Corner Center after the thief stole two pairs of sunglasses and fled the massive shopping mall.
Shifflet testified that he saw Johnson fidget with his waistband during the pursuit. The officer fired two shots at the suspect moments later.
No gun was found on Johnson, who eventually died at a hospital.
“I did not have the luxury to wait to see a gun,” Shifflett testified at his trial. “We are trained that hands are going to harm you and hands are what are going to kill you.”
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis fired Shifflett shortly after the incident. However, the chief said the body camera footage wasn’t clear about how much of a threat Johnson presented in the heat of the moment.
The prosecution nearly upended its case when in closing arguments it used a clip from Shifflett’s body camera that wasn’t submitted for evidence.
The clip was from moments after Shifflett shot Johnson and captured the ex-sergeant telling other officers that he ordered Johnson to “show me your hands.”
Body camera footage from the pursuit revealed that Shifflett never made that order.
Prosecutors argued that Shifflett made up the quote because he knew he was in the wrong, but the former cop’s defense team said it would seek a mistrial over the faulty evidence.
The prosecution acknowledged the error, and the defense later relented.
The judge instructed the jury to forget the clip during deliberations, but the union characterized the clip as a timely lapse in judgment to serve the prosecution’s case.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.