Ex-cop to stand trial for Leslie Roger?s death

A coroner’s inquest has concluded that former police officer Aldo Ayuso must stand trial in the Supreme Court for the death of Leslie Rogers Jr. in 2005. Witnesses who testified at the inquest gave conflicting reports about the shooting; some saying Rogers had a gun, others that there was no gun. One person even claimed, contrary to the post-mortem, that Rogers was shot in the back of the head, not the forehead. The main witness also reported being threatened with bodily harm by some young men when she wanted to give a statement about what she had seen that night to the press. Despite the discrepancies, the six-person jury found Ayuso criminally responsible after only an hour’s deliberation and this afternoon Ayuso was formally charged with manslaughter. News Five was there when he descended the steps of the Magistrate’s Court and told those assembled he was only doing his duty as an officer of the law.

Aldo Ayuso, Charged with Manslaughter
?Like I say, a police officer working on duty, a guy pull a gun at me and I had to do what I did.?

Ayuso was granted bail of five thousand dollars and will have to report to the clerk of court every Friday. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid told News Five that Ayuso is no longer a member of the Police Department and that his services were terminated due to what he termed “other matters” not related to the death of Leslie Rogers Jr. Rogers died on Euphrates Avenue on the night of February twelfth, 2005. According to police, Ayuso was patrolling the area looking for an armed suspect, but Rogers ran when he tried to question him. After a chase, Ayuso says he caught up with Rogers, but the young man made a move as if to reach into his pants for a weapon and that’s when he fired a shot.