School officer will not be charged in USA student's death

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said a grand jury will not charge the USA officer in relation to the death of Gil Collar.

Authorities said Collar was shot and killed by Officer Trevis Austin in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 6, 2012.

Rich also released the toxicology report for Collar. Toxicology results show Collar was under the influence the night he was shot and killed by Austin.

"He decided to ingest a substance, a research chemical known as 25-I. He took two tiny hits of the 25-I on blotter paper, 2/9ths the size of a postage stamp and stuck them in his mouth and his behavior changed drastically," Rich said.

Rich said Collar approached two cars, acting erratically, yelling, before he went to the USA police station. That's when officials said Officer Austin responded and ended up shooting Collar as Collar did not follow commands to stand down.

"The drug that was taken produced conduct that caused Gil Collar's death. A Mobile County grand jury has reviewed the entire investigation into the death of Gil Collar and has cleared USA Police Officer Trevis Austin of wrong doing," Rich said.

Rich said 25-I is a substance similar to LSD, but it's very uncommon. So uncommon that it's not listed on the controlled substance list for the State of Alabama. Rich said she knows who Collar got the drug from, but she cannot charge them.

"Unfortunately , the law is I can only charge someone with distribution either selling or furnishing a controlled substance if it is actually listed on the controlled substance list in the State of Alabama," Rich said.

Rich said she believes this was the first time Gil Collar had taken 25-I. Rich said Collar's family was in Mobile, and she spoke with them at length. She said they are devastated. Collar was in his first semester at USA.

Rich said marijuana also showed up on Collar's toxicology report. Rich said 25-I is a chemical that is put on blotter paper and the paper is divided and sold and taken by mouth. Rich said the street value is around $10 for a hit.