News release courtesy of Robertson County District Attorney Coty Siegert:
Today the Robertson County District Attorney’s Office presented to Grand Jury the case regarding the May 6, 2014 shooting death of Pearlie Golden by Hearne PD Officer Stephen Stem. Upon conclusion of the presentation of evidence and deliberation, the Grand Jury returned a “No Bill” on the charge of Murder against Officer Stem.
This determination is not a comment on the enormous tragedy resultant from any loss of life, and more specifically the life of Pearly Golden. This is a determination by the duly empanelled Grand Jury that the evidence does not reach the level of probable cause on the Murder charge. Due to the secrecy of Grand Jury proceedings, the District Attorney’s Office can not divulge anything that happened in Grand Jury. I can say that the Grand Jurors took their oaths very seriously and considered every aspect of this tragedy before reaching a determination based on the actual evidence.
There was a very thorough and in depth investigation conducted by the Texas Rangers. The simplified version of this investigation is that Officer Stem was responding to a 911 call of a possible Aggravated Assault with an armed individual. Upon arriving on scene, Officer Stem met with the reporting party, Roy Jones, Jr, the nephew of Pearlie Golden, who informed Officer Stem that she did have a gun. As Officer Stem approached the home and upon coming around the corner of the house, they were confronted by Miss Golden who was carrying a 38 Special revolver. Miss Golden was told twice by Jones to put the gun down. Miss Golden was instructed by Officer Stem 4 times to put the gun down. Miss Golden continued to approach the Officer and lifted the gun to point it at the Officer. It was at this time that officer Stem fired his weapon striking Miss Golden twice. Officer Stem immediately called for EMS.
This event was an enormous tragedy and has shaken the Hearne Community and beyond. As always, my prayers go out to all those involved. I also ask for a special prayer for healing on this very close knit community.
