The Kane County sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed carjacking suspect James Moriarty in 2023 at the end of a harrowing daylight chase in the far western suburbs were justified in using deadly force, Kane County’s top prosecutor said Friday.
But as State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced she wouldn’t be bringing criminal charges against the officers, troubling details emerged from her just-concluded two-year investigation, including that one of those cops had intentionally “muted” his squad car and body cameras so no audio was recorded for a period of time.
Depending on why that was done, that could constitute a crime, Mosser said, adding the officer wouldn’t submit to an interview, so the reasoning wasn’t clear.
His body-worn camera was also wrongly positioned — on a shoulder instead of his chest — so his video images ended up with “an upward view,” Mosser said.
She is recommending that Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain — who has steadfastly defended his officers over the shooting incident and allowed them to return to work — discipline the cop, a sergeant who has served as a field training officer.
Hain says the “administrative side of the case is not complete.”
That same officer shot Moriarty five times while he was standing and eight times while he was on the ground, according to Mosser’s review, which was aided by an outside consultant who specializes in examining police shootings.
While the eight shots raised concern, Mosser said she determined they were allowable because “officers are trained to eliminate a threat.”
Some of the 18 shots fired in total by three Kane County officers hit Moriarty in the back — and came after a police dog was unleashed and knocked away what police believed to be a handgun but that turned out to be an “airsoft gun,” Mosser said.
However, Mosser said there was no indication an officer who kept shooting after the object was dropped knew Moriarty was no longer holding it.
Even though it wasn’t a real gun, officers can respond as if it is real if that’s what they reasonably believe. What’s more, Moriarty previously had suggested he had a gun, and made “suicide-by-cop comments,” police say.
“It was Mr. Moriarty’s choice and his choice alone that ultimately led to his death,” Mosser said.
Moriarty’s sister, Stephanie Moriarty, said she’s not excusing her brother’s role in all this, but she believes the events “leading up” to the shooting could have been handled with much greater care.
“It wasn’t a gun, he never fired it, he didn’t even point it at anyone,” she said, adding her family is consulting with an attorney about next steps. “They never gave him a chance.”
Mosser said “he had plenty of chances to drop that gun,” and was ordered repeatedly to do so by officers but refused.
Hain says he stands by his officers and their decisions “100%,” adding, “They are heroes.”
Moriarty carjacked a Honda from a car wash on May 24, 2023, a day after Hain was accused by Aurora officials of fouling up an undercover operation they were leading to arrest Moriarty, who had a history of drug and other offenses, as well as addiction issues.
Kane County deputies spotted the stolen car shortly after and gave chase, with the pursuit ending in a crash at Randall Road and Fabyan Parkway on the border of Batavia and Geneva.
Moriarty got out of the vehicle and sheriff’s deputies released their dog, named Hudson, and opened fire after he “displayed a weapon toward deputies,” according to initial police records.
The dog was accidentally killed by police gunfire, officials say.
An initial account from Hain’s office described an “exchange of gunfire,” but Mosser confirmed that Moriarty didn’t have a real weapon from which to fire.
Four shots from police were regarded as fatal to him, three from a handgun fired by the officer being recommended for discipline and one from another officer who fired a rifle.