A look at high-profile police shootings in the United States

A former St. Louis police officer was acquitted Friday in the fatal shooting of a drug suspect following a chase.

Jason Stockley was charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith. Testimony in the trial ended Aug. 9, but Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson weighed evidence for more than a month before ruling.

Stockley and his partner sought to question Smith after observing what appeared to be a drug deal on a fast-food restaurant parking lot. Smith drove away, prompting a chase.

Stockley shot into Smith's car five times after the chase. He testified Smith was moving his hand toward an area of the seat where a gun was found. But prosecutors said Stockley planted the gun.

Stockley is white and Smith was black.

The case is among several across the United States in recent years that have increased debate about race and policing. Here are some other high-profile deaths of blacks during police encounters:

This black 15-year-old was fatally shot Saturday, April 29, by a suburban Dallas police officer while a passenger in a car that was moving away, not in reverse toward officers.

Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said Monday that police video contradicts his department's original statement about the high school freshman's killing by officers investigating an underage drinking complaint at a house party Edwards was leaving. The officer, identified as Roy Oliver, was fired on Tuesday for violating department policies in Edwards' death. Oliver is white, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

A prosecutor cleared a black Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer in the fatal shooting of Scott, 43, who was killed while sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of his Charlotte apartment complex as officers sought another man. A police review board decided in March that Officer Brentley Vinson followed proper procedure.

Police video showed officers shouting for Scott to drop a gun numerous times as he slowly backed out of an SUV. Scott's family said he did not have a gun and was reading a book. Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray cited evidence that Scott was armed, including a store's surveillance video, DNA recovered from a handgun and a Facebook conversation from the man who said he sold the stolen gun to Scott.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, police Officer Betty Jo Shelby's manslaughter trial begins Monday, May 8, in the shooting of Crutcher, an unarmed man.

Shelby, who is white, shot the 40-year-old man on Sept. 16, shortly after she arrived on a street to find Crutcher's SUV stopped in the middle of the road. Crutcher was seen without a weapon and with his hands up on videos from a patrol car dashboard and a police helicopter before Shelby shot him. Police Chief Chuck Jordan has said Crutcher did not have a gun on his body nor in his SUV. Shelby has pleaded not guilty.

A jury in June acquitted former Milwaukee officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown, who is black, of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Sylville Smith in 2016 a decision that ignited riots. Smith was shot following a traffic stop. Police say Smith ran away holding a gun. Prosecutors say Smith fell and Heaggan-Brown shot him once in the arm as he was getting up, still holding the weapon while facing the officer. They say Heaggan-Brown's second shot came after Smith had thrown his gun over a fence. Heaggan-Brown, 25, said he thought Smith was reaching for another gun in his waistband when he fired again.

Castile was shot and killed July 6 by officer Jeronimo Yanez, who is Hispanic, after being pulled over as he drove through a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, with his girlfriend and her young daughter in the car.

Livestreaming on Facebook moments later, his girlfriend said Castile, 32, was shot while reaching for his ID after telling the officer he had a gun permit and was armed. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi concluded that Yanez wasn't justified in using deadly force. Yanez was charged with manslaughter but cleared of that charge and two lesser ones June 16, 2017.

Federal prosecutors announced in May they would not seek charges against two white police officers who were involved in a deadly encounter with Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last summer. Sterling, 37, was shot to death on July 5, 2016, as the officers pinned him to the pavement outside a convenience store where he had been selling CDs. The killing was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely online, sparking demonstrations across Baton Rouge. U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson said Sterling was armed during the confrontation and the investigation didn't find enough evidence to pursue charges. State authorities are investigating whether to bring charges.

Jamar Clark's November 2015 shooting death sparked weeks of protests in Minneapolis. Two white officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, were trying to arrest the 24-year-old when he was shot once in the head. He died a day later. Some witnesses said Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, but federal and state probes concluded that he was not. Investigators said Ringgenberg felt Clark's hand trying to grab his weapon and shouted to Schwarze, who then shot Clark. Prosecutors decided not to charge either officer, and an internal police investigation cleared them.

Former Columbus, Mississippi, police officer Canyon Boykin, who is white, was indicted in September 2016 for manslaughter in the shooting death of Ball, 26.

Boykin said he fired because Ball appeared to point a gun at him during a foot chase in October 2015. The city fired Boykin, saying the officer violated policy by not turning on his body camera, by inviting his fiancee to ride with him and by making derogatory social media posts about African-Americans, women and disabled people.

Boykin has sued the city, claiming violations of his constitutional rights. Ball's family has sued Boykin, the city and other police officials for wrongful death.

McDole, 28, was sitting in his wheelchair when he was shot and killed in September 2015 in Wilmington, Delaware, after police received a 911 call about a man with a gun. A bystander's cellphone footage showed officers repeatedly telling McDole to drop his weapon and raise his hands, with McDole reaching for his waist area before shots erupted.

The Delaware attorney general's office decided against criminal charges against four Wilmington police officers involved, although investigators concluded one officer showed "extraordinarily poor" police work. In January, a federal judge approved the city's $1.5 million settlement with McDole's family.

Prosecutors plan to retry former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing this month in the killing of an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop near the campus in July 2015. The jury deadlocked after his first murder trial. He faces 15 years to life if convicted.

Tensing's body camera captured much of the encounter, although the two sides dispute what conclusions can be reached. Tensing's attorney says DuBose was using his car as a deadly weapon. The university fired Tensing, restructured its public safety department and reached a $5.3 million settlement that includes free undergraduate tuition for DuBose's 13 children.

Former Portsmouth, Virginia, Police Officer Stephen Rankin was sentenced in October 2016 to 2½ years in prison for fatally shooting this unarmed 18-year-old while responding to a shoplifting call outside a Wal-Mart on April 22, 2015.

Prosecutors allege Rankin killed Chapman "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation." Chapman's body was reportedly delivered to the medical examiner with handcuffs still bound behind his back. Some witnesses said Chapman was combative, and one said he knocked away Rankin's stun gun. Rankin, who is white, was fired.

The 25-year-old man was shackled but alive when he was put in Baltimore police van in April 2015. He came out with severe neck injuries, and his subsequent death led to rioting. Six officers were charged initially, but prosecutors in July dropped all remaining charges after acquittals and a hung jury. Gray's family agreed to a $6.4 million settlement with the city in September 2015.

Prosecutors are recommending decades in prison for white South Carolina police officer Michael Slager, who shot Scott in the back as the black motorist fled following a traffic stop.

Slager pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 2, to a federal charge of violating Scott's civil rights. A judge will determine his sentence, which could range from probation to life in prison without parole.

A lawyer for Scott's family said justice was served with Slager's guilty plea. But attorney Chris Stewart also said Tuesday that verdicts are rare in officer-involved killings. The possibility of such a stiff sentence in killings by police is even more unusual.

Scott's shooting in April 2015 was captured on cellphone video and seen worldwide.

Former Tulsa County volunteer sheriff's deputy Robert Bates, 74, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Harris, 44, a black man who was unarmed and restrained.

Bates, who is white, has said he confused his stun gun with his handgun. That shooting led to the temporary suspension of the reserve deputy program after a report found poor training of the volunteer officers, a lack of oversight, and cronyism. Bates is appealing his conviction.

Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a white Cleveland police officer near a gazebo in a recreational area in November 2014. Officers were responding to a report of a man waving a gun. The boy had a pellet gun tucked in his waistband and was shot right after their cruiser skidded to a stop, just feet away. A grand jury in December 2015 declined to indict patrolman Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot, and training officer Frank Garmback. The city settled his family's lawsuit for $6 million. The officers still could be disciplined or fired by the department.

Rookie New York City police officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter last year in the November 2014 death of 28-year-old Gurley.

Liang, an American of Chinese descent, said he was patrolling a public housing high-rise with his gun drawn when a sound startled him and he fired accidentally. A bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Gurley. A judge reduced the conviction to negligent homicide and sentenced Liang to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service. The city settled with Gurley's family for $4.1 million.

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder in November 2015, on the same day that the city, under a judge's orders, released dashcam video showing McDonald, a 17-year-old black man, being shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014.

Van Dyke, who is white, has pleaded not guilty. The video prompted local and federal investigations; The Justice Department determined in January that Chicago police have a long history of civil rights violations and excessive force.

The 18-year-old black man was fatally shot by a white officer, Darren Wilson, in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. A grand jury declined to indict Wilson, and the U.S. Justice Department opted against civil rights charges. Wilson later resigned.

The death of Brown, who was unarmed, led to months of occasionally violent protests and became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities.

Police in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Beavercreek responded to a Wal-Mart store in August 2014 on a call of a man waving an apparent rifle. A white officer fatally shot John Crawford III, 22, who was carrying what turned out to be an air rifle from a store shelf. Police said they believed it was a real gun and that he didn't respond to their commands to put it down. A grand jury declined to indict the officers. The U.S. Justice Department said it was reviewing the case, and an attorney for Crawford's family has filed a federal lawsuit.

The 43-year-old black man died in July 2014 in New York City after a white officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. A grand jury declined to indict that officer, nor any others involved in the arrest. The city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.

Chicago police officer Dante Servin resigned in May 2016 after the police superintendent said he should be fired for killing an unarmed black woman four years earlier.

Servin was off-duty when he shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. She had been walking down a street with her friends when he told them to be quiet, and he fired when he thought he saw a gun. Prosecutors charged Servin with involuntary manslaughter, a judge acquitted him in April 2016, saying he'd been improperly charged. The city settled a wrongful-death lawsuit in 2013 with Boyd's family for $4.5 million.