SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) — Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams has called for a special prosecutor to review the Willie McCoy case, the District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Abrams announced the appointment of Michael Ramos as a special prosecutor to oversee and review the fatal Vallejo Police Department officer-involved shooting of Willie McCoy.

“We listened to the concerns of the community and the overwhelming public demand for an independent review of this case and reached out to the Attorney General’s Office for assistance,” Abrams wrote.

In February of 2019, Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, was shot dead by police in Vallejo. A lawsuit claims McCoy was shot 55 times by six officers while he was sleeping in his car outside a Taco Bell.

Police claim McCoy had a gun in his lap. In body camera footage, you can hear an officer tell the other officers to shoot McCoy if he moved and to not give him a chance.

The shooting sparked an outrage in the city of Vallejo and the entire Bay Area.

DA Abrams announced she was recusing herself and the office from the investigation on July 2, referring them to the Attorney General’s Office.

However, Abrams says the Attorney General declined the request to review the case.

“We understand the community’s call for an independent review,” Abrams wrote. “Our goal with this independent review is to instill public confidence and trust in the legitimacy of officer involved fatal incident investigation. We believe this independent review will be a positive step in rebuilding relationships in our community.”

Ramos served as the District Attorney of San Bernardino for 16 years and was appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown to the PEace Officer Standards and Training Commission.

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