Summary Gurley's death was one of a string of incidents in which police officers killed black men.
NEW YORK (AFP) - A New York police officer was charged with manslaughter Wednesday over the death of an unarmed black father in a killing that fueled protests across the United States.
Rookie officer Peter Liang pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment over the death of Akai Gurley, shot in the chest in a dimly lit staircase at a Brooklyn apartment building in November.
Gurley s death was one of a string of incidents in which police officers killed black men under questionable circumstances last year, sparking angry and at times violent protests across America.
Liang was charged with manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment and two counts of official misconduct.
After entering his not guilty plea, Liang was released without bail. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said.
"We do not believe officer Liang intended to kill Mr Gurley, but he had his finger on the trigger and he fired the gun," Thompson told a news conference.
Liang also failed to call his superiors with news of the shooting after the incident, Thompson said.
The district attorney opened an investigation into Gurley s death within hours of his November 20 death at a housing project.
Investigators interviewed dozens of witnesses and inspected the staircase multiple times, Thompson said.
At the conclusion of the probe, a grand jury decided to indict Liang.
Angry protests erupted across the United States when grand juries decided not to indict the officers who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri and father of six Eric Garner in New York.
- Death a tragedy -
Gurley, who was 28 and the father of a young daughter, was shot just after entering the stairwell with his girlfriend when the elevator took too long to arrive.
New York police immediately declared his death a "tragedy" and Commissioner Bill Bratton described Gurley as a "total innocent."
Liang, an Asian-American officer, and his partner were conducting a routine patrol of the apartment building, which has been a scene of crime and homicides in the recent past.
After Liang discharged the bullet, he and partner Shaun Landau did not respond to radio contact for more than 6.5 minutes, the New York Daily News reported in December.
US demonstrations in November and December occasionally turned violent as thousands of people took to the streets demanding police reform and penalties for officers who kill unarmed suspects.
According to a Justice Department report, blacks and Hispanics are four times as likely to experience the use of force in encounters with police.
The US Bureau of Justice Statistics says that blacks accounted for 32 percent of all reported arrest-related deaths from 2003 to 2009, despite making up 13 percent of the population.
Two New York police officers were shot dead before Christmas by a mentally disturbed man who claimed to be looking to avenge the deaths of black men at the hands of mostly white police officers.
