Independence Police Chief says officers used ‘textbook’ use of force in deadly shooting of mother, baby

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman said his officers used “textbook” use of force in the deadly shooting that killed a mom and her baby.

Maria Pike and baby Destinii were killed by police last November at the Oval Springs Apartment Complex.

The Jackson County Prosecutor ruled it was reasonable for the officer to open fire.

On Thursday, Dustman said that the istrative investigation is underway now that the criminal investigation is over.

Dustman said Officer Jordan White, Officer Chad Cox, and Officer Dereck Carr were the officers involved.

Officers White and Cox are the officers in the video. White fired his gun, killing Maria and Destinii. Carr was with a mental health co-responder at the apartment.

“These co-responders are not sworn personal,” Dustman said. “They are not uniform personnel. They are civilians, and they are unarmed. We have a responsibility to make sure that any situation that we put them in is a safe scene.”

White and Cox remain on leave but are expected to return soon as the chief said they did what they were trained to do.

“This is textbook,” Dustman said. “Literally, this is current best practices for policing. We have evolved over the last 20 years to all of the de-escalation techniques that we employ, and this is exactly how those were employed.  We don’t get to dictate the outcome of that sometimes. And unfortunately, sadly, and tragically, sometimes a loss of life occurs.”

The family of Maria and baby Destinii sent KCTV5 the unedited version of the body camera footage from inside that apartment complex.

They recorded a Zoom call with prosecutors shortly before the announcement last week.

In it, the officers asked Maria to put Destinii down as they verbally said they were worried about her safety. This conversation went on for 11 minutes.

Then she abruptly grabs a knife and lunges towards the officers. That’s when Officer White fired four shots.

Prosecutors told the family in that video that Maria was shot three times. Once in the wrist, the side of her neck and to her back.  One shot hit baby Destinii.

While Chief Dustman couldn’t elaborate, he did confirm that the first shot was when Maria was facing White.

“If you watch the video, from the time she retrieves that knife, from the last shot that was fired is 4 seconds,” Dustman said. “From the time the first shot is fired, from the time the last shot is fired is 2 seconds. So, I understand that when you slow it down and look frame by frame, isn’t there a point where one could say hey there’s no longer a knife here, that’s not how that works.”

KCTV5 asked Dustman if there was anything to learn from this situation, and he said that he couldn’t elaborate on that with the internal investigation. But he said there are always important takeaways from these situations.

The family tells KCTV5 that justice is not served and are angry with police and how the situation unfolded.

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