February 26, 2021

OKLAHOMA CITY — Bennie Edwards was shot in the back and killed by an Oklahoma City Police Sergeant December 11 according to DA David Prater’s arrest affidavit filed Thursday.

In Oklahoma County District Court, the DA filed the charge of manslaughter in the first degree against OKCPD Sgt. Clifford Holman with an alternative charge of manslaughter in the second degree. Holman has been with the department for seven years.

The affidavit states that Holman shot Edwards three times “unnecessarily” as Edwards was “running away striking him in his upper middle back.”

The body and car camera videos show the final moments of the life of Bennie Edwards — a 60-year-old man who experienced homelessness and psychosis — and they detail the actions of the three OKCPD officers who responded to a call about Edwards bothering customers outside a Hefner Road shopping center.

Master Sgt. Keith Duroy and Sgt. Michael Smith were speaking with Edwards for more than three minutes before Holman arrived on the scene. The footage from Holman’s body camera, embedded below, reveals that Holman arrived on the scene at the 2:08 mark of his recording and began shouting commands at Edwards — “Hey, drop the knife, dude!” — before fully exiting his vehicle.

Within 28 seconds, Holman has fired three shots at Edwards, the third of which hit Edwards in the center of his back as the Black man ran away from all three officers.