On June 2, police responded to an alleged looting incident when an unmarked cop car shot through the vehicle's windshield five times before killing Sean Monterrosa. 

He was on his knees with his hands up at the time of his death, but the officer mistook a hammer in his sweatshirt pocket for a gun. 

On Thursday, Krishna Abrams, the head prosecutor in Solano County  recused herself from the case in a video statement explaining why she has chosen to step down.. 

“It is imperative that all criminal investigations, including use of force investigations, be conducted professionally, objectively, fairly and independently.” said Abrams.

Following that, she said she is referring Monterrosa’s  case and another — the police shooting death of Willie McCoy— to the California Attorney General’s office for review. 

This comes after California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office expressed confidence in Abrams’ office to carry out the investigation and chose not to get involved.

Twenty-year-old aspiring rapper, Willie McCoy was asleep in a Taco Bell drive thru in February of 2019 when six police officers approached his car, saw he had a gun in his lap,  and shot at him 55 times. There have yet to be repercussions against the offending officers in McCoy’s case. 

Because of Monterrosa’s murder at the hands of law enforcement on June 2, there haven been protests throughout the city of Vallejo and Solano County. Aside from the protests, officials, citizens, and the media have called for independent investigations into his death.

“In the spirit of this legislation and given the exceptional circumstances of the magnitude of the perceived conflict in the current cases, lack of public trust from some community members, it is my professional judgement, in consultation with my executive team, that our office must recuse itself from any further review of these two cases,” Abrams added

The Attorney General has yet to answer regarding Abrams’ recusal.