Prosecutors won’t seek death penalty for man accused of shooting Officer Snyder

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing Blake Snyder, a St. Louis County police officer.

Robert McCulloch, St. Louis County prosecutor, said in a statement that the decision not to pursue the death penalty for Trenton Forster came after examination of evidence and meeting with Snyder’s family, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Snyder was a St. Louis County police officer killed while on duty in October 2016.

Forster, then 18, faces first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges. Forster was critically wounded, McCulloch said, after a backup officer responded to the scene and shot him.

Snyder was shot to death on Oct. 6, 2016, when he and his partner were responding to a disturbance in St. Louis County.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Prosecutors won’t seek death penalty for man accused of shooting Officer Snyder."