Alfonzo Glover

Milwaukee DA E. Michael McCann did something this morning that he rarely does.

He actually charged someone. A year after the incident, he charged a cop with murder.

This morning:

A Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot 25-year-old Wilbert Javier Prado in March 2005 was charged this morning with first-degree intentional homicide and six counts of perjury for lying to the inquest jury that examined the case.

Alfonzo Glover, 35, was off duty when he fired at Prado near S. 9th St. and W. Ohio Ave.

Prado, who was unarmed and intoxicated, was shot eight times, mostly from behind. The inquest jury in May 2005 found the shooting justified, but the verdict is only advisory.

"I do not expect it will be easy. It will be a difficult and challenging case," District Attorney E. Michael McCann said at a news conference. Glover was being taken into custody this morning.

According to AP, "McCann says it's only the second time in his 38 years as prosecutor that he's charged an officer."

As it turns out, McCann will not be taking the case to trial.
This afternoon:

A Milwaukee police officer, who was charged with homicide and perjury this morning, killed himself at his home this afternoon, Chief Nannette Hegerty said.

Alfonzo Glover, 35, a five-year veteran of the force, was pronounced dead at his home on the south side. Earlier in the day, he appeared in court on the charges.

Glover was released from the jail at 1 p.m. after posting $25,000 cash bail. He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the March 2005 death of Wilbert Javier Prado, 25, who was not armed, near S. 9th St. and W. Ohio Ave.

Glover has been on administrative duty since the off-duty shooting, which was ruled justified by an inquest jury in May 2005. He was suspended May 15 of this year.

Does Glover's suicide indicate that he was guilty?

Does it indicate that he was despondent after being charged with murder, when an inquest jury ruled that the shooting was justified in May of 2005?

Perhaps he couldn't face the ordeal.

Unless Glover left a note explaining why he chose to take his life, we won't know.

We do know that McCann doesn't have to worry about taking on this "difficult and challenging case."

This one is over.

One has to wonder what really went into McCann's decision to file charges.

Was it the facts of this case that caused him to act?

An AP report says that "Robert Wozniak, a mechanical engineer and accident reconstruction specialist hired by McCann's office," brought new information to McCann's attention.

[T]he extent of damage to the van and the parked vehicle demonstrated that Glover's account is "not true"...

The van must have been traveling between 22 and 27 miles per hour at the time of impact, which could not have happened if the driver came to a complete stop as Glover testified, the report said.

The inquest jury didn't have that crucial information, McCann said.

McCann is justifying his decision to charge Glover on Wozniak's report.

Was there more to it than that?

Was McCann using Glover as a scapegoat?

Was McCann trying to counter his image as the impotent DA?

So many questions.

So many will be left unanswered now that Glover has killed himself.