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A Collier County Sheriff's Office deputy who shot and killed an Immokalee man after a pursuit in a stolen truck acted in justifiable self-defense and won't face criminal charges, the State Attorney's Office announced Monday.

The widow of Charlie C. Torres, however, says she will continue her fight to prove Cpl. Brian Cohen, a three-year veteran, didn't need to kill her common-law husband in order to stop him.

Cohen still faces an administrative review by the Sheriff's Office to determine if his actions met the agency's policy involving use of force. Spokeswoman Stephanie Spell said he has returned to road patrol despite that pending review.

Cohen shot Torres, 34, around 3 a.m. March 8 after Torres drove the stolen truck through a fence near North 15th Street and Indian Camp Road. Cohen has told officials he fired at Torres as the truck headed toward him as he stood outside his vehicle, reporting the crash to emergency dispatchers.

According to a letter State Attorney Steve Russell sent to Sheriff Don Hunter on Monday, witnesses said Torres drove the truck directly at Cohen, the lead deputy pursuing the stolen vehicle.

"Cohen yelled at the driver to stop, but the vehicle continued to accelerate toward him. Cohen then fired multiple times at the Explorer," according to the investigative document prepared by Assistant State Attorney Dean R. Plattner.

Investigators spoke with Jessica Cartegena, a friend of Torres who was a passenger in the truck, and another deputy at the scene. Cohen refused to provide a sworn statement for the investigation, but he documented his actions in the Sheriff's Office use-of-force reports.

Cartegena told investigators she told Torres to stop and he knew deputies were pursuing him and wanted him to stop.

"She further indicates that Torres then drove directly toward the deputies and may well have run them down in an effort to flee if the shooting had not happened," Plattner's report says.

The report also says the physical evidence corroborated the self-defense angle. Several of the bullet holes in the truck were head-on through the windshield, while others went through the driver's-side door at a front-to-back angle. "This seems consistent with the first shots being fired while the vehicle was being driven directly toward Cpl. Cohen," the report says.

Torres' gunshot wounds were from front to back, according to the medical examiner. The report says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation determined all the shell casings came from Cohen's gun and the projectiles from Torres' body also were consistent with that gun, proving no one else fired.

The Medical Examiner's Office has not released the autopsy report and Plattner's report does not specify the number of bullets that were fired. However, family members have said they were told 11 bullets were fired and nine hit Torres, including one on the cheek and two to the top of his head.

His blood-alcohol level was about 0.14 percent, over the level at which a driver in Florida is considered drunk — 0.08 percent — and he had cocaine and marijuana in his system. "A crack cocaine pipe was actually found in his hand after his death," according to Plattner's memo.

Torres, formerly of Rochester, N.Y., had a lengthy criminal history, including arrests on charges of DUI, burglary, grand theft, dealing in stolen property, providing false information to law enforcement officers and possession of narcotic paraphernalia. At the time of his death, he was wanted on charges of violating his probation.

Cohen was justified in shooting Torres because "he had a reasonable belief that he was in danger of imminent death or great bodily harm," according to the memo.

Spell said Cohen spent some time on administrative duty after the shooting but was returned to road patrol. However, he was transferred out of Immokalee.

"The State Attorney's Office conducted the criminal investigation part, and we're conducting and are hoping to soon complete the internal investigation with regard to compliance with agency policy," Spell said.

Under the Sheriff's Office policy involving pursuits, a deputy can shoot at a moving vehicle during a pursuit "when the deputy is in a position that would not allow him or her to retreat and a suspect is attempting to use a vehicle as a deadly weapon against the deputy."

Its use-of-force policy, called "response to resistance and levels of resistance," says a deputy can use deadly force as a "last resort" if a subject makes "overt, hostile, attacking movements with or without a weapon, with the intent and apparent ability to cause death or great bodily harm to the deputy or to others."

Luz Martinez, 41, Torres' common-law wife of nine years, said she's speaking to a lawyer and plans to take legal action despite the report clearing Cohen.

"That's in their eyes," Martinez said. "That's their opinion. I don't care. ... No matter what, (Cohen) did wrong. I'm not going to stop until I win and prove to them Cohen was wrong. ... My husband never carried a weapon. He was not a violent person."

She said she and Torres had discussed having a wedding to make their marriage official. Martinez, who is caring for three children ranging in age from 5 to 15, two of them fathered by Torres, said she works as an inspector in a vegetable packing factory and delivers pizzas to make ends meet. Her brother loaned her money for the funeral and she was able to pay back $1,000 through donations she received, but she still owes $2,000.

"I'm not going to let this go," she said. "Now I'm stuck by myself raising my kids."