Officer won't be charged in fatal shooting of teen

Prosecutors in metro Phoenix will not charge an officer who shot a 14-year-old boy holding a replica gun and running away during a call about a vehicle break-in.

Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said prosecutors likely would not have won a conviction against Officer Joseph Jaen, who shot Antonio Arce in the back in an alley in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe in January 2019.

Adel said Jaen didn't know when he fired his gun that Arce was 14. She also said the suspect was believed to be armed and about to run out of the officer's view. Police officials have said Jaen fired because he thought the gun was real and perceived an imminent threat.

"This situation is absolutely heartbreaking," Adel said. "'But that day, Officer Jaen did not see a 14-year-old boy with a replica. In that moment he saw a suspect running through a neighborhood with a weapon."

Attorney Danny Ortega, who represents Arce's parents, said his clients were disappointed. Ortega questioned how the teen could have been perceived as a threat when he was at least 100 feet (30 meters) away from the officer with his back turned.

Body-camera footage showed Jaen drawing his handgun and taking cover behind a large trash bin as Arce moved around a pickup truck parked in an alley.

Jaen told Arce to show his hands as the teen runs away. Jaen stopped and fired two shots at Arce, who didn't appear to turn around or point a weapon at the officer.

Jaen found Arce on a sidewalk just outside the alley. While waiting for other officers to arrive, Jaen described the suspect as being in his 40s.

Minutes later, he seemed upset and in disbelief when learning the person he shot was a teenager.

Jaen, who resigned as an officer about four months after the shooting, was granted an early disability retirement. In all, he worked for 17 years as an officer, 14 in Tempe and three in Bullhead City.

A separate internal investigation by Tempe police concluded that Jaen had violated the agency's use-of-force policy.

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