The remaining Alameda police officer charged in the death of Mario Gonzalez pleads not guilty

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Officer Eric McKinley will appear in Alameda County Superior Court with his attorney on October 25, 2024.

OAKLAND, California. – The lone remaining police officer charged in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez pleaded not guilty Friday in Alameda County Superior Court.

Eric McKinley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Gonzalez’s death. The 26-year-old died after being pressed face down to the ground for more than five minutes. Earlier this month one The judge dismissed the charges against two of the officers initially charged in the case based on prosecutorial paperwork and a technical timing.

The judge did not dismiss McKinley’s charges on another technicality. The officer was in South Africa engaged in missionary work at the time the three-year statute of limitations expired, and his time frame to leave the country was slightly longer than the other two to bring charges.

McKinley’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Alameda County Superior Court.

On April 19, 2021, officers responded to a call of a man acting strangely in a public park on Oak Street. Officers then discovered Gonzalez was a shoplifting suspect and attempted to detain him.

Supporters of Mario Gonzalez want justice after manslaughter charges against two Alameda officers were dropped

Those seeking justice for the death of an Alameda man at the hands of police held a small rally Friday outside an Oakland courthouse, where one in three officers still faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.

When officers approached him, Gonzalez did not provide identification when asked.

Failure to provide identification is not a crime, but the refusal prompted the officers to force him onto his stomach on the ground.

He died after being held in a prone position for several minutes. Last year, his son received an $11 million settlement.

Gonzalez later died in hospital.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price reopened the case in return for three police officers in February last year.