ASHLAND — An Ashland County Sheriff’s deputy has been cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy.
Eighth-grader Jason Pero was killed by an Ashland County deputy in December outside his home on Bad River Band reservation. State investigators say the boy approached the deputy with a butcher knife and refused commands to drop it.
According to a Wisconsin Department of Justice news release:
“On November 8, 2017, Ashland County Sheriff’s Deputy Brock Mrdjenovich was involved in a critical incident that resulted in the death of Jason Pero.
Today, St. Croix County District Attorney Michael Nieskes, acting as special prosecutor, determined Deputy Mrdjenovich’s actions through the use of deadly force in this situation were justified by the circumstances he found himself in and that there is no criminal liability for the death of the juvenile JIP.”
