JACKSON — A federal law enforcement expert has concluded that the use of deadly force by two Capitol Police officers during a 2022 traffic stop in Jackson was justified and not excessive.
The expert, Jeffery Artis, a retired FBI special agent with more than 24 years of law enforcement experience, including several years in the Jackson field office, reviewed police reports, witness interviews, autopsy records, departmental policies, and video footage related to the Sept. 25, 2022, shooting of Jaylen Lewis.
Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Maryasa Lee said the AG’s Office does not comment on ongoing litigation.
According to Artis’ statement, Officers Michael Rhinewalt and Steven Fredrick were attempting to stop a white Jeep Cherokee linked to recent auto burglaries when the vehicle struck another police car and then moved toward the officers. Both Rhinewalt and Fredrick fired at the Jeep as it approached, and Lewis was later found to be armed with two handguns and an assault rifle, with drugs also in the vehicle.
According to an indictment dated April 14, 2025, Michael Rhinewalt and Stephen Frederick are facing a manslaughter charge in the death of Lewis, who was fatally shot near East Mayes Street in Jackson.
The indictment states that Rhinewalt and Frederick were truly in fear for their lives at the time of the shooting, but that it was the opinion of the AG’s office that they shouldn’t have been.
“Officers Swinney and Webster both told MBI Agents that the Jeep struck their vehicle and then attempted to leave the scene by turning and trying to drive around Fredrick and Rhinewalt’s police vehicle. According to these officers, this placed Fredrick and Rhinewalt in the path of the Jeep as it was moving forward,” the report says. “Rhinewalt and Fredrick told MBI Agents that the Jeep struck Swinney and Webster’s police vehicle and then drove forward, around their vehicle and toward them. Fredrick and Rhinewalt both told MBI Agents they believed the Jeep was accelerating quickly in their direction. Both Fredrick and Rhinewalt said they fired at the Jeep because they were fearful of being hit by the Jeep.”
Artis said the officers’ response fell within “the bounds of an objectively reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to protect the lives of the officers and others.”
He emphasized that a moving vehicle is considered a deadly weapon and that officers are not required to wait until they are struck before using force.
Artis also noted that the incident was consistent with widely accepted law enforcement practices and Supreme Court standards for evaluating the reasonableness of deadly force.
Under Supreme Court guidance, the reasonableness of an officer’s use of deadly force is measured by the totality of the circumstances at the moment of the shooting. Factors include the severity of the crime prompting the stop, the officer’s actions during the encounter, and the suspect’s behavior. The analysis is objective, focusing on what a reasonable officer in the same situation would have done, not the individual officer’s personal belief.
A front-seat passenger, identified as Selena Hayes, told investigators that Lewis had been trying to flee and did not intend to target officers with the vehicle. Hayes has not been charged in connection with the incident.
She also told MBI agents that she and Lewis were drinking in the Jeep, and that she had not met him before that night. She did not give a reason she was in the vehicle with Lewis.
“Hayes described the pertinent parts of the incident as follows: Hayes saw the police car drive around the Jeep and stop in front of it. She did not notice the second police vehicle behind the Jeep. Lewis drove the Jeep in reverse and it struck the police car behind the Jeep. That was when Hayes first realized there was a police vehicle behind the Jeep. Lewis then put the Jeep in drive and attempted to drive around the police vehicle in front of the Jeep,” the report states.
“Therefore, it is my opinion that the amount of force used was justified because it was objectively reasonable for Officers Rhinewalt and Fredrick to believe they were in danger of being seriously injured or killed by the vehicle driven toward them by Jaylen Lewis as he attempted to flee from the traffic stop,” the report continues. “Eyewitness accounts were particularly important, and each reported the same or very similar version of events. Selena Hayes, the front-seat passenger in Lewis’ vehicle, told police that Lewis was trying to ‘get away and it didn’t go right.’
“The evidence shows that at the time Rhinewalt and Fredrick fired their weapons, they knew Lewis was aware police were attempting to stop him, that he had used his vehicle violently to strike at least one police car, and that he was actively trying to leave the scene by driving around a stopped police vehicle in the direction of Rhinewalt and Fredrick. Under these circumstances, which are not disputed by any evidence provided by the State, the officers’ belief that their lives were in danger was objectively reasonable.”
“As an FBI Special Agent, I conducted hundreds of federal investigations into officer involved use of force incidents, for the purpose of determining whether the uses of force were justifiable under the circumstances,” Artis wrote. “I was also formerly contracted with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office to review its officer involved shooting investigations.”
Artis’s report was filed in court Friday and such reports ar eusually intended to assist the judge in understanding professional standards for police conduct. Artis states that he is prepared to testify in court regarding his opinions.
