Special prosecutor says not enough evidence to charge deputy in Jason Walker's killing

A special prosecutor said Thursday no charges will be filed against Cumberland County sheriff's deputy Jeffrey Hash, who is accused of killing Jason Walker.

Posted 4:53 p.m. Apr 21, 2022 — Updated 11:47 p.m. Apr 21, 2022

Byran Mims

, WRAL reporter

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A special prosecutor said Thursday no charges will be filed against a Cumberland County Sheriff's deputy accused of killing a Fayetteville man.

Jason Walker, 37, died on Jan. 8 after witnesses said he jumped on the hood of Lt. Jeffrey Hash's truck along Bingham Drive near Shenandoah Drive in Fayetteville. Hash, who was off duty, admitted to exiting the truck and shooting Walker. Hash said it was to protect his family.

The State Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation of Hash and turned the case over the prosecution to the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys.

The NC Carolina Conference of District Attorneys made the decision not to file any criminal charges against Hash after reviewing the state's evidence.

A letter from Kimberly Overton Spahos, executive director of the NC Conference of District Attorneys, said that Hash was acting in self defense.

"The shooting was indisputably tragic, but based upon these facts, the state of North Carolina will not be able to provide beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting of Jason Walker was unlawful. Consequently, our office will not be seeking charges related to the death of Jason Walker,"Spahos wrote in the letter.

Protests erupted after the shooting with many community members saying the shooting was not justified. Walker is a Black man and Hash is a white man.

Janice Walker, Jason's mother, said that her son's death was "very excessive."

"I know nothing can bring my son back, but I still seek justice for Jason," she said. "Jason knows what happened, God knows what happened, and the shooter knows what happened."

Hash's actions were protected under the state's castle doctrine, the prosecutor's letter said. The castle doctrine is a law that protects individuals' right to use deadly force if they believe they are in imminent danger, according to Spahos.

"We cannot view these events from the comfort of our desks after cool reflection, as Hash was not granted the luxury of time and reflection," Spahos wrote.

The special prosecutor said that Hash stopped his truck 30 feet from Walker, and for "an unknown reason" Walker ran toward Hash's truck and got on top of the hood.

"Walker then tore off the driver's side windshield wiper from the truck and began striking the windshield wiper," the letter states.

Spahos' letter said there appeared to be two drops of Walker's blood found inside of Hash's truck near the pocket of the driver's side door. The drops appeared to have come from on top of the truck and dropped down.

"This was consistent with Walker being on the hood of the truck and moving toward the driver's door when he was shot," according to the prosecution's letter.

According to Walker's autopsy released in March, bullets hit him in the head, neck, back, torso and in the left thigh.

There are conflicting witness reports about what happened, according to body camera footage released by the Fayetteville Police Department. One witness said Walker did not jump on the hood of the truck, while others, including Walker's father, said that he did.

"Jason should still be alive today. We will continue to push for transparency from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the family of Jason Walker is demanding murder charges be filed against Hash by the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys," said civil rights attorney Ben Crump in March.

Crump represented the families of George Floyd and Andrew Brown and is now representing Walker's family.

A toxicology report found that Walker was not using drugs or drunk. He did have nicotine, caffeine and a trace amount of an antihistamine in his system.

Janice Walker said that she hopes that the case will go before a grand jury.

"The only way for justice to prevail is that a grand jury decide this case," she said. "Yes it was murder, but was it excessive murder?"

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