Court documents show that two officers have been indicted by a Hinds County Grand Jury in a September 2022 incident.
According to an indictment dated yesterday, Michael Rhinewalt and Stephen Frederick are facing a manslaughter charge in the death of Jaylen Lewis, who was fatally shot on September 25, 2022, near East Mayes Street.
The indictment states that Rhinewalt and Frederick were truly in fear for their lives at the time of the shooting, but that they shouldn’t have been.
“STEVEN RANDOLPH FREDERICK JR. and MICHAEL LAMAR RHINEWALT were acting in his
At the time, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said MBI was conducting an inquiry and would present its findings to the Attorney General’s office. The officers were put on administrative leave until “the internal investigation is completed and they are approved to return to active service.”
Both Rhinewalt and Frederick returned to service after that investigation.
According to DPS spokesperson Bailey Martin:
“Frederick resigned from the Mississippi Department of Public safety in March 2023 shortly after being involved in a traffic accident while off duty. Rhinewalt has been on administrative leave without pay and has not been actively employed with the agency since January of 2025.
To further strengthen accountability, MDPS has established an Internal Affairs Division that operates independently of other agencies within MDPS and reports directly to Commissioner Tindell. This division includes dedicated investigators tasked with independently handling complaints of officer misconduct. In additional, Capitol Police officers now wear body cameras and additional policies have been instituted to ensure greater professionalism and accountability. Anyone wishing to file a complaint can do so at our website (www.dps.ms.gov).
Due to pending civil litigation and the pending criminal case, no further statement will be provided at this time.”
The shooting was the fourth in about five weeks by Capitol Police at the time. Rhinewalt was involved in one of the others on August 14 of the same year, and he and Jeffrey Walker were indicted in that incident in December.
