St. Petersburg police clear officer in Dawson shooting

ST. PETERSBURG -- As expected, the St. Petersburg Police Department has ruled that one of its own officers was justified when he shot an armed 17-year-old Gibbs High School student outside a chaotic graduation party this past summer.

"Officer Terrence Nemeth was justified in the use of his department-issued firearm," wrote Chief Charles "Chuck" Harmon in a memo today wrapping up the myriad of investigations into the June death of 17-year-old Javon Dawson.

Nemeth was one of several police officers summoned to 3101 Freemont Terrace S. to clear out an out-of-control graduation party that had swelled to hundreds of uninvited guests, according to the report.

The internal police investigation dovetailed with the findings of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe: that an armed Dawson had shot into a crowd of teens the night of June 7, then aimed his weapon at the officer as he ran.

Nemeth said he heard screams in the crowd, then saw muzzle flashes. The officer said he armed himself with his department-issued Glock pistol and started ordering an individual to drop their weapon. Nemeth said Dawson looked over his shoulder and pointed a gun at the officer as he ran from the scene.

The officer said he fired, hitting Dawson. Then Nemeth said Dawson raised a gun at him again. The officer said he fired again, hitting the teen a second time.

The officer said Dawson ran onto the driveway of 3167 Freemont Terrace S., threw the gun down, then tripped in the yard and fell. Paramedics could not revive Dawson, a sophomore at Gibbs High who had no arrest record. He was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m.

McCabe's Aug. 12 report declared Dawson's shooting "justifiable homicide" in part based on forensic evidence linking the .38 special found at the scene to Dawson.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement review of McCabe's investigation -- a controversial and unusual request initiated by Gov. Charlie Crist -- backed up the prosecutor's report on Oct. 6.

Today's Shooting Review Board report, which consists of the chief and five other officers, is the last official report awaited in the 17-year-old's death. Police will soon releases thousands of pages of supporting documentation.

But despite the hundreds of people in the area of the shooting, investigators have struggled to find eyewitness accounts other than Nemeth's. The officer's statement is the only "complete" account of what happened that night, according to the State Attorney's report.

But one witness did report seeing Dawson with a firearm that night, and another said they saw Dawson fire shots that night.

"There was no credible evidence presented to the board which conflicted with Officer Nemeth's testimony," according to the chief's memo. "In fact, all forensic evidence and much of the sworn testimony from other witnesses supported Officer Nemeth's sworn testimony."

But Dawson's family and their supporters disagree with all the official findings. Dawson's family denies he was armed, and the Justice for Javon Dawson Committee and the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement have protested against the official findings.

Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer

*