No charges will be brought against the two Newburgh police officers responsible for the death of 22-year-old Michael Lembhard. Lembhard’s family received the grim news yesterday.
“We’re just sitting here, we cant believe it,” said Juanita King, Lembhard’s cousin.
The news is the result of an Orange County grand jury investigation into the circumstances of Lembhard’s death in March. Several of Lembhard’s family members testified, saying the Newburgh police lied in their reports and accounts of the night Lembhard was shot.
According to the police, Lembhard came towards the police with a knife when they pursued him into the home of his sister. Police then shot Lembhard 15 times in the kitchen.
King said no one from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office notified the family about the grand jury decision.
“They didn’t even call to let [Lembhard’s] mother know,” she said. King found out about the decision when she got a call from a Newburgh city councilman. “If I didn’t call my family and let them know they would have heard it on the news.”
Lembhard’s family is waiting to hear from their attorney to devise their next plan of action.