Remaining Alameda police officer charged in Mario Gonzalez’s death pleads not guilty

OAKLAND, California – The only police officer charged in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez pleaded not guilty in Alameda County Superior Court on Friday.

Eric McKinley has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Gonzalez’s death. The 26-year-old died after being pinned face down for more than five minutes. At the beginning of this month, a the judge dismissed the charges against the two officers who were originally charged in the case based on the materials of the prosecutor’s office and technical information about the terms.

The judge did not dismiss McKinley’s charges on another technicality. The officer was in South Africa on missionary work at the time the three-year statute of limitations expired, and he was out of the country slightly longer than the other two to face charges.

McKinley’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Alameda County Superior Court.

On April 19, 2021, police were called to a man behaving strangely at a public park on Oak Street. Then the police learned that Gonzalez was a shoplifting suspect and tried to arrest him.

When officers approached him, Gonzalez did not produce identification when they asked.

Failure to produce an ID is not a crime, but it was the refusal that prompted the police to pin him to the ground with his stomach.

He died after being kept in a prone position for several minutes. Last year, his son received $11 million.

Gonzalez later died at the hospital.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price reopened the case against three policemen in February last year.