Richmond police officer tied to Marcus-David Peters shooting was decertified

Peters’ shooting spurred protests and criticism of the Richmond Police Department. But Michael Nyantakyi’s decision to pull the trigger on an onrushing Peters was ruled as justified by Richmond’s commonwealth’s attorney. Nyantakyi, a 10-year veteran of the department, continued on with the department.

Six years later, however, it appears Nyantakyi lost his credentials as a police officer. In September 2023, Nyantakyi separated from the department. Afterwards, he was decertified by the state agency that oversees police credentials.

This Friday, Nyantakyi is set to appeal the decision. If successful, it would allow him to return to work as a police officer.

The precise reason for Nyantakyi’s termination is not public. That’s because of a bill passed by the General Assembly last year, which allowed for police decertification proceedings to take place behind closed doors and for decertification records to be exempt from public records requests.

However, court records show that Nyantakyi was named in a string of domestic charges in 2022. All of the charges were dismissed or dropped by prosecutors, which is not uncommon in domestic court.

The most recent charge stems from Oct. 10, 2023. On that date, Nyantakyi was stopped by a police lieutenant in Colonial Heights for speeding, an expired vehicle inspection tag, and for impersonating a police officer.

All three of those charges were also dropped. Still, he was terminated, in his words, by the Richmond Police Department two months afterwards. A spokesperson for the police department confirmed that the separation was unrelated to the Peters’ shooting.

Nyantakyi questioned The Times-Dispatch’s interest in reporting on his charges and forthcoming appeal. He said that the charges were of a personal nature and unrelated to his performance in uniform.

“If this was an on-duty activity, I would completely get it,” said Nyantakyi. “But you’re trying to move past a situation that basically changed your life forever, and every time you turn around, the media is throwing it back in your face.”

Nyantakyi said the impersonation charge was “taken out of context,” which is why the case was dismissed.

“I wasn’t trying to act in a police capacity, if that’s what you’re trying to find out. That was not the case,” said Nyantakyi.

Nyantakyi’s appeal will be heard by the Executive Committee of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, a council of police chiefs, prosecutors and public defenders who hear appeals and decide an officer’s fate.

The Times-Dispatch reported last October on the case of Leary Wright, a Richmond police officer who pleaded guilty to the same charge of impersonating a law enforcement officer. In that case, Wright had used a police computer to look up the home address of a woman he had met on the dating app Tinder. Wright, a patrol officer, then contacted her under the guise of a Richmond police detective.

As of January 1, Wright was still an employee at the department, albeit on leave without pay.

Friday’s hearings will also include appeals from former Henrico County Sheriff’s Deputy Christian Rivas, as well as former Virginia State Police Trooper Moses Blakey. It was not immediately clear why either officer was decertified.

The death of Marcus-David Peters in 2018 was a flashpoint for police accountability efforts in Virginia, with critics saying that the department should be responding to mental health crises with health professionals, rather than armed officers.

Peters had crashed his car along a stretch of I-95 and was acting erratically on the shoulder of a highway on-ramp. Nyantakyi was the sole officer on the scene, and initially used his Taser on Peters. In a review published by Commonwealth’s Attorney Collette McEachin’s office, only one prong of the Taser had struck Peters.

A naked, unarmed Peters lunged at Nyantakyi, who fired at least twice, striking Peters in the abdomen and arm. He died shortly after at VCU Medical Center.

“The officer’s ultimate decision to use lethal force was a reasonable response to the imminent danger presented to himself and the public by Mr. Peters’ continued violent behavior due to his mental deterioration,” said McEachin in a review released in November 2020.

The shooting was also deemed justified by McEachin’s predecessor, former Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring.

Peters’ family said it was his first mental health episode. His sister, Princess Blanding, vowed to fight for change on his behalf.

“He did not need a bullet,” said Blanding. “He needed help.”

Peters’ death led to passage of the Marcus-David Peters Act, a law designed to bring mental health professionals to the scene of a person in crisis by way of a “Marcus Alert.”