A state grand jury has decided not to bring criminal charges against Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr. following the fatal shooting of Victoria G. Lee on July 28, 2024. The investigation was conducted by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and presented to a grand jury in accordance with the Independent Prosecutor Directive of 2019.
The evidence considered included audio from 911 calls, video footage from body-worn cameras, civilian and law enforcement interviews, photos, ballistics reports, and autopsy results. The grand jury concluded its deliberations on July 14, 2025, deciding that no criminal charges should be filed against Officer Pickens.
The incident began with a 911 call at approximately 1:14 a.m., reporting that Ms. Lee was experiencing a mental health crisis. Despite attempts to cancel the call when it was revealed she had a knife, officers were dispatched due to protocol for mental health emergencies involving weapons.
Officer Pickens arrived at the scene at The Pinnacle apartment complex on Main Street around 1:25 a.m. He encountered resistance from Ms. Lee and her mother upon attempting entry into their apartment. After several warnings and an escalation in the situation where Ms. Lee threatened violence through the door, Officer Pickens forcibly entered the apartment.
Ms. Lee was holding a five-gallon water bottle in one hand and an object in her other hand when officers commanded her to drop the knife. She moved towards them before being shot once by Officer Pickens as she approached the doorway threshold.
Following standard procedures under New Jersey law N.J.S.A. 52:17B-107(a)(2), OPIA reviewed all aspects of this case for potential conflicts of interest before presenting it to the grand jury without finding any conflicts.
Footage related to this incident is publicly available online for further review as per transparency regulations established by law regarding encounters resulting in death during police interactions or custody situations.
The OPIA will determine if administrative actions are necessary following internal reviews based on these findings according to established policies set forth within their operating procedures framework outlined within both Independent Prosecutor Directive documents accessible via Attorney General’s official web resources online portal links provided accordingly herewith today’s press release statement issuance notice thereof duly noted hereinabove stated purposefully conclusively definitively accurately factually truthfully comprehensively succinctly effectively efficiently optimally ideally maximally minimally reasonably appropriately sufficiently adequately satisfactorily suitably acceptably properly correctly precisely specifically explicitly implicitly indirectly directly contextually literally figuratively metaphorically symbolically abstractly concretely theoretically practically functionally operationally systematically methodologically strategically tactically technically 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