Tamir Rice Police Shooting Case Handed Over to Prosecutors After Lengthy Investigation

The move comes more than six months after the 12-year-old boy was fatally shot.

ByABC News
June 3, 2015, 2:06 PM
Tamir Rice, 12, was fatally shot by police in Cleveland after brandishing what turned out to be a replica gun, triggering an investigation into his death and a legislator's call for such weapons to be brightly colored or bear special markings.
Tamir Rice, 12, was fatally shot by police in Cleveland after brandishing what turned out to be a replica gun, triggering an investigation into his death and a legislator's call for such weapons to be brightly colored or bear special markings.
Courtesy Richardson & Kucharski Co., L.P.A./AP Photo

— -- The investigation into the shooting death of Tamir Rice by Cleveland police officers has been handed over to prosecutors, who expect to convene a grand jury soon.

A source confirmed the move to ABC News and said that the grand jury will decide whether either of the police officers should stand trial for the 12-year-old's death last November. Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney has since reiterated the transfer of the findings of their investigation to the prosecutor's office.

Walter Madison, one of the lawyers representing the Rice family, said that they are not happy about the prospect of the proceedings, which are secret.

"This moves from a public process that's transparent to a more secretive one," Madison told ABC News.

The investigation into the shooting, which took place when officers saw the pre-teen at a Cleveland playground holding what they later determined was a pellet gun, has been ongoing since the Nov. 22 shooting.

On May 12, Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney said that "the majority of our work is complete."