RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia police officer convicted of shooting an unarmed teen has lost an appeal.
Portsmouth’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement Wednesday that a state appeals court in Richmond has denied the petition.
Stephen Rankin was convicted last year of voluntary manslaughter after he fatally shot 18-year-old William Chapman II. Rankin was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison.
The former officer was responding to a shoplifting call outside a Wal-Mart in 2015. Prosecutors had alleged that Rankin killed Chapman “willfully, deliberately and with premeditation.” Some witnesses said Chapman was combative, and one said he knocked away Rankin’s stun gun.
Chapman was black. Rankin, who is white, was fired.
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