Grand jury clears Fort Lee cop in fatal shooting of woman in mental health crisis

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Grand jury clears Fort Lee cop in fatal shooting of woman in mental health crisis

Artwork of Victoria G. Lee at a rally held by AAPI New Jersey. AAPI NEW JERSEY/Iris Shih

TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 12 (ZFJ) — A state grand jury voted not to criminally charge Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr., with the fatal shooting of Victoria G. Lee, 25, of Fort Lee, during a mental health crisis on July 28, 2024.

Per state law, the N.J. Attorney General’s Office (OAG) is required to investigate any deaths that occur during law enforcement encounters, so this case was investigated by OAG’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

OAG is also legally required to present the investigation results to a grand jury of 23 citizens that decides whether or not to move forward with an indictment against the police.

OAG presented evidence that included 911 call audio, bodycam and taser video footage, civilian and law enforcement interviews, photos, ballistics reports, and autopsy results. The grand jury concluded its deliberations on July 14, 2025, and voted no bill, meaning that it did not find probable cause to criminally charge Pickens.

INVESTIGATION RESULTS

The first 911 call was received by local authorities at about 1:14 a.m., and a man reported that his sister was undergoing a mental health crisis and asked that she be taken to Valley Hospital in Paramus. Dispatch advised him that an ambulance and police officer would be sent. The caller asked for “just the ambulance,” but dispatch said that the officer had to be sent for mental health calls for the safety of EMS personnel.

A second 911 call was received at about 1:19 a.m., and the same caller asked to cancel his first call. Dispatch said that mental health calls could not be cancelled and asked for the caller’s reason for cancellation. The caller said that his sister had a knife. Dispatch confirmed with him that she was in a bedroom holding, and not actively attacking with, a “foldable” knife. Given this information, Fort Lee police upgraded the seriousness of the call.

At about 1:25 a.m., Pickens was the first of multiple Fort Lee police officers to arrive at The Pinnacle apartment complex on Main Street. Pickens spoke with the caller in the hallway outside Lee’s apartment to get basic information. He then opened the apartment door and saw Lee and her mother, who was holding a small barking dog. Both women told Pickens not to enter, and Lee reached over her mother and closed the door, which was then locked.

Lee’s brother, the caller, did not have an apartment key. Pickens knocked on the door several times and asked the women to open it as additional officers arrived.

According to OAG, officers said they were concerned about the safety of Lee and her mother inside the apartment, and a supervisory officer determined that immediate entry was necessary.

Pickens warned that he would have to break the door down. Lee replied, “Go ahead, I’ll stab you in the f——— neck” and “Shoot me if you want to.”

The supervisor responded that they did not want to shoot her but wanted to talk to her. An officer escorted the brother down the hallway, and officers were assigned “lethal” and “less-lethal” duties.

Pickens warned the women again that he would have to break down the door. An officer told Pickens that another officer was retrieving a hydraulic tool to enter but that he could attempt to open the door without the tool if he was comfortable with it. Police again instructed the women to open the door or it would be forced open.

At about 1:28 a.m., Pickens forcibly opened the door. Lee was standing about two steps from the door, holding a five-gallon water bottle in her right hand and an object in her left hand.

Officers shouted “Drop the knife!” Lee had been holding her mother’s hand in her left hand inside the apartment, but she broke free and took two steps towards the officers in the hallway.

Lee was about to cross the apartment doorway’s threshold when Pickens fired a single shot, striking her in the chest. Officers rendered medical aid. She was taken to Englewood Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at about 1:58 a.m.

OAG says that a knife was recovered at the scene.

All of the released body camera footage and 911 audio recordings can be watched on The Zombie Fridge Journal’s YouTube channel.

IMPLICATIONS

About a month after Lee’s death, OAG revised statewide law enforcement policy for police responses to barricaded individuals. The changes include a requirement that officers stand down from further action until qualified mental health providers and personnel arrive, unless imminent action is required to prevent injury or death. Other key changes include mandating the use of “less-lethal weapons” and emphasizing communication before responding.

Fort Lee had been in the process of enrolling in OAG’s ARRIVE Together program, which partners police with mental health providers, at the time of the shooting. The enrollment has since been finalized.

AAPI New Jersey, in a joint statement with numerous other advocacy organizations, condemned the OAG investigation and grand jury verdict.

“Community members in Fort Lee and beyond should know they can access help safely and without fear when they need it,” said AAPI New Jersey. “Instead, the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability’s (OPIA) failure to secure a grand jury indictment after a torturous year-long investigation has undermined public safety in New Jersey by making it clear that no matter how brutally and senselessly police officers kill our loved ones, the systems that are supposed to protect us will instead close ranks to protect their own.”

The organizations called for disciplinary action against all police officers involved in the incident as well as continued work on government “alternative crisis response options.”

Victoria Lee’s family members spoke at a rally held by AAPI New Jersey to criticize the police response.

“For a year, we have hoped to see the officer who killed my daughter, Tony Pickens Jr., stand before the law,” said Kyung Lee, father of Victoria Lee. “This week we were devastated to be told that this would not happen.”

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