A Harrison County Court judge has ruled that a second-degree murder charge against a Jamestown Police Department officer may proceed to trial, while dismissing a related gross misconduct charge, in an omnibus opinion and order issued September 17th in The People of the County of Harrison v. Filturaes.
The Underlying Incident
According to court documents, the case stems from an August 9th incident at the Jamestown Marina in which a citizen identified in court filings as TrexeoDev opened fire on a crowd without lawful justification. TrexeoDev was quickly incapacitated by return fire from Officer Filturaes or another citizen on scene.
The affidavit of probable cause states that Filturaes then placed TrexeoDev in his patrol cruiser and transported him to the Jamestown Police Department garage parking lot, where he requested medical assistance. No medical assistance was available. According to the affidavit, Filturaes subsequently shot and killed TrexeoDev while he remained incapacitated on the ground.
The Charges
The People charged Filturaes on August 21st with four counts: second-degree murder, gross misconduct, brandishing a firearm within a municipality, and discharging a firearm within a municipality.
Filturaes moved to dismiss the charges in two separate filings in late August, arguing in part that the affidavit of probable cause failed to establish probable cause for the brandishing and discharge counts because it did not explicitly reference them, and that the affidavit lacked sufficient factual detail to support the murder and gross misconduct counts.
The Court’s Ruling
County Judge DauuX rejected Filturaes’ argument that an affidavit must explicitly identify which specific charges it supports, writing that the rules of criminal procedure require only that an affidavit set out sufficient underlying facts — not that it name particular offenses, which is a matter left to prosecutorial discretion.
A threadbare recital of the elements of the offence.
Turning to the sufficiency of the criminal information itself, the Court reached different conclusions for each count:
- Gross misconduct (dismissed): The Court found the information’s language “a threadbare recital of the elements of the offence” that left the nature of the alleged dereliction of duty too vague to satisfy constitutional pleading requirements, including concerns under the Double Jeopardy Clause. The count was quashed.
- Second-degree murder (proceeds, with correction ordered): The Court found this count legally sufficient, ruling that the affidavit adequately supported both the unlawfulness and the requisite “malice,” which the opinion clarifies is understood at law as criminal intent rather than personal malevolence. The Court did find one factual defect — the information does not name the victim — and ordered the prosecution to file a bill of particulars to cure that deficiency.
- Brandishing and discharging a firearm within a municipality (both proceed): The Court found both counts legally sufficient. It rejected the argument that Filturaes’ on-duty status automatically shields him under the statutory exception for law enforcement officers, noting that exception applies only to conduct within the “scope of lawful official duties” — a question the opinion states must be resolved at trial rather than decided on the pleadings.
What’s Next
With the ruling, three of the original four charges — second-degree murder and both municipal firearm counts — remain active against Filturaes, while the gross misconduct count has been dismissed as pleaded. The prosecution has been ordered to amend the murder charge with a bill of particulars identifying the victim. The Harrison Independent will continue to follow this case as it proceeds.
You can read the ruling here.
This is a developing story.