No criminal charges for Moraine officers involved in deadly I-75 shooting

MORAINE — Two Moraine Police officers involved in a deadly shooting on I-75 last month will not face criminal charges.

A Montgomery County grand jury returned a no true bill, finding that under the circumstances the officers acted lawfully during the May 2022 shooting death of Elijah Isham, 27, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

On the morning of May 4, officers responded to a crash involving multiple vehicles, including one that overturned on northbound I-75 near the Dryden Road exit. A second vehicle came to rest in a ditch.

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The officers, previously identified by Moraine Police as Sgt. Kenneth Llyod and Officer Jerome Klemmensen, checked on Isham, who’s car was on its top. When paramedics arrived, they went back to his car and found him pointing a gun at them. Police later said it was a .44 caliber handgun.

The officers checked with troopers on scene to see if there was a less-lethal option available, but determined there was not one immediately available.

Officers spent five minutes trying to deescalate the situation, gave roughly 41 commands to Isham to drop the weapon and offered at least three times to get him help. Police Chief Craig Richardson said he did not obey commands from the officers.

Richardson said the officers fired their service weapons after one officer heard the man appearing to pull the hammer back on the weapon. The two officers fired nine shots, striking the man at 6:07 a.m.

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Isham was taken to an area hospital where he later died. His cause and manner of death are under investigation.

Isham’s license and plates on his vehicle were registered in Oregon. Police said he was arrested in Colorado in April for assault and resisting arrest. He also had a protection order in effect against him our of Colorado.

After the shooting, an investigation revealed that the gun in Isham’s possession was not loaded.

Llyod and Klemmensen were placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting. They were both back previously brought back to work full duty, according to Moraine Police.

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