Grand jury clears officer who shot Pharrell Williams’ cousin

By BEN FINLEY
Associated Press

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A grand jury has found that a Virginia Beach police officer was justified in fatally shooting a Black man armed with a gun during a chaotic night of violence on the city’s oceanfront. The death of Donovon Lynch has drawn heightened scrutiny because he is a cousin Grammy winning musician Pharrell Williams. Lynch’s father also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit. The city’s prosecutors said Tuesday that Officer Solomon Simmons was justified in protecting himself and others in the late March shooting. They said Lynch racked a round into his handgun’s chamber and pointed his weapon toward a parking lot filled with multiple people and police. The prosecutors also said that Lynch began to turn toward Simmons.