Mississippi’s attorney general gave up on the Jaylen Lewis case. A judge says it was bias for police.

A Mississippi judge has refused to let the state walk away from the killing of Jaylen Lewis, writing that the attorney general’s office abandoned the case out of “bias in preference of law enforcement.”

Lewis was 25 and Black. He was shot to death in September 2022 during a traffic stop by Michael Rhinewalt, a white Capitol Police officer who has since left the force. Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson issued the order Oct. 23, denying the state’s bid to end the manslaughter case against Rhinewalt for good.

“The Office of the Attorney General announced it would be abandoning its duty to pursue prosecution of this case due to a bias in preference of law enforcement rather than upholding the oath of the office to pursue prosecutions of cases without bias, sympathy or prejudice,” Peterson wrote.

A jury in September deadlocked on the charge against Rhinewalt and acquitted a second former officer, Steven Frederick Jr. Both men said they fired in self-defense. A witness said Lewis was trying to drive away, according to reporting by WLBT in Jackson.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office responded to the deadlock by saying it would not try Rhinewalt again. “The benefit of the doubt goes to our law enforcement officers, and we will not seek to retry this case,” the office wrote. “The men and women who wear the uniform have earned that.” A tied jury is not an acquittal, and Rhinewalt remains charged.

The case was already rare. WLBT’s review of Mississippi shootings by officers that Fitch’s office has examined since 2022 found 64 cases and only three grand jury indictments, about 5%. Under Mississippi law, the attorney general’s office has exclusive authority over those cases, so when it declines to prosecute, no one else can step in. Peterson said she would consider sending the case to another prosecutor only if one wanted it.

Lewis’s mother said the ruling brought some relief. “It doesn’t give me peace, but I can breathe a little bit knowing that she’s speaking out for my family, for my son,” she said.

The state has not given up. Its lawyers filed a new motion Friday asking for a temporary dismissal, arguing a second trial would likely end the same way. A temporary dismissal would leave the charge alive, and a future attorney general could revive it after Fitch’s term ends in 2028. Peterson has not ruled on that request.

A second trial could begin in February 2027 if the case stays on her docket.