Man charged with killing cop won't face death penalty charge

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Indiana man charged in the fatal shooting of a Terre Haute police detective who was also an FBI task force officer.

Notice that the government would not seek capital punishment against Shane Meehan was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana by U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers, the Tribune-Star reported.

Instead, Meehan would face up to life imprisonment if convicted.

Meehan's attorneys have said they did not believe he qualified for the death penalty and told the court last month they had submitted 1,500 pages of medical records to show his medical condition. His attorneys have referred to his condition as 'œ brain damage and mental illness.'ť

Officer Greg Ferency was 53 and the father of 18-year-old twins when he was killed on July 7, 2021, in Terre Haute, a city about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Indianapolis.

Authorities allege Meehan threw a Molotov cocktail at an FBI office and then shot the officer as he emerged from the building. Ferency and an FBI agent both fired on Meehan, wounding him in the ambush, authorities said.

Ferency was a 30-year Terre Haute police department veteran and he was also a federal task force agent.