McBean Family Thanks Grand Jury After Deputy is Indicted for Manslaughter
Tearful relatives of an Oakland Park man who was fatally shot by a Broward Sheriff‘s deputy expressed gratitude to a grand jury for its indictment of the lawman on a charge of manslaughter.
“The people have spoken and it’s the right decision,” Jennifer Young, the mother of Jermaine McBean, said Monday.
Deputy Peter Peraza, 37, shot McBean, 33, a computer systems engineer, on July 31, 2013. McBean had been walking with an unloaded air rifle along North Dixie Highway before the fatal gunfire near his home in the Greentree apartments.
A deputy for 14 years, Peraza was working until Thursday’s indictment, when he was suspended without pay.
Last week’s grand jury indictment is the first since 1980 of an on-duty law enforcement officer after a fatal shooting of a civilian in Broward County, according to state attorney records.