How La. Trooper Avoided Jail Time in Fatal Arrest of Ronald Greene

Mar. 15, 2025

In body camera footage now-retired Master Trooper Kory York is depicted leaning over Ronald Greene, who is facedown on the ground, during the deadly arrest outside Monroe, La. on May 10, 2019.Photo:Louisiana State Police via AP

Louisiana State Police via AP

A retired Louisiana state trooper will serve no jail time in theofficer-involved deathof a 49-year-old Black motorist,Ronald Greene, who cried in body camera footage“I’m your brother! I’m scared!”as six trooperstased, punched, dragged and beathim until he stopped breathing.

On Monday, Oct. 28, Kory York pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor charges of simple battery in exchange for a sixth month suspended sentence and one year probation, his lawyer, Mike Small confirms to PEOPLE. He was previously charged with negligent homicide and two counts of malfeasance.

“Outcome is a total victory for Mr. York!” Small wrote in an email to PEOPLE.

Ronald Greene.Family Photo

Still, York’sconviction is the firstamong the five indicted troopers in the Union Parish, La., case, with just one trooper still slated for trial, per the Associated Press. (A sixth trooper, Christopher Clay Hollingsworth,diedin 2020, following asingle-vehicle crashjust hours after he was told he would be fired.)

Now-retired Master Trooper Kory York in Monroe, La., on May 10, 2019, following the deadly arrest of Ronald Greene earlier that day.Louisiana State Police via AP

Small says that “if subpoenaed,” York would “testify truthfully” in the last remaining trial but that he had not made an agreement with prosecutors as part of his plea deal.

Ronald Greene’s brother, Sean Greene, during the March on Washington protesting police brutality in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 2020.Michael M. Santiago/Getty

PEOPLE reached out to federal authorities for an update on the investigation, which they announced in June 2022. Lester Duhé, press secretary for the Office of Attorney General Liz Murrill, did not directly answer any of PEOPLE’s multiple questions about the investigation, including if federal authorities planned to file charges.

State authorities originally told Greene’s grieving family that he had died in a high-speed car crash, and state police filed a crash report without any reference to trooper force, per the AP, which notes that an emergency room doctor quickly cast doubt on their claims.

Now-deceased Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, in West Monroe, La. on May 10, 2019, following the fatal arrest of Ronald Greene earlier that day.Louisiana State Police via AP

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Then, two years after Greene’s death, the AP obtained body-camera footage, which the outlet reported depicted the six troopers tasing him, placing him in a chokehold and cursing at him, with Hollingsworth beating him over the head with a flashlight and boasting that he had “beat the ever-living f— out of him.”

Now-retired Master Trooper Kory York is depicted in body camera footage standing over Ronald Greene during the Black motorist’s deadly arrest on May 10, 2019.Louisiana State Police via AP

But, more than five years after Greene died, the 49-year-old’s cause of death remains murky.

Ultimately, a forensic pathologist did not specify the primary contributing factor, with the resulting uncertaintyleadingto York’s plea deal, per the AP.

Ronald Greene.Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock

“This shouldn’t end today,” Hardin said. “It’s wrong. It’s unfair.”

source: people.com