Prosecutors say that the officer in question committed no wrong doing in the 18 year old’s death and the court agrees

Officer Jorge Mercado was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in a Florida courthouse yesterday in the Taser death of 18 year old graffiti artist REEFA aka Israel Hernandez-Llach back in 2013.

According to the State Attorney’s office, Florida law gives officers the right to use “any” force, since officer Mercado says that Hernandez-Llach was running towards him. Mercado was on administrative leave following the incident, but is now said to be back on active duty.

According to reports, REEFA was painting on an abandoned McDonald’s in Miami Beach when he was approached by officers on August 6, 2013. Hernandez-Llach was ordered to stop, but ran through alleyways, a building and over a fence before he was apprehended.

Witnesses say that after he was Tasered by the officers, they laughed and gave each other high fives as he lay motionless on the ground where he was pronounced dead.

Jorge Estomba, a spokesman for the artist’s family, said in a statement, “The family will continue the fight to have justice on behalf of their slain son.”

-Sha Be Allah(@KingPenStatus)