We can see Michael Brown's backless flip flops in the gratuitous convenience store video. And we can see that same footwear still ON his feet* where the police left him for four and a half hours on that street. *trigger warning
The witness accounts we've heard all indicate Michael moved away from the police vehicle and that he was being shot at. We also know that Michael did not die beside the police vehicle. If we're to believe the third-hand account of officer Wilson's story, Michael Brown ran away (to establish some greater distance between the police vehicle and his body) while being shot at; then he turned and CHARGED at the officer (closing the initial distance he covered but NOT returning close to the car) again while being shot at.
I defy anyone to sprint in flip flops. Run fast, or stop start, and the flip flops are coming off your feet. If the just-released audio recording captures the actual gunfire sequence (perhaps with an earlier single shot), we know there's no way Michael Brown covered any great distance in the available time.
We've all seen accident photos, and X-Games sequences of laced-up shoes leaving feet in high speed collisions or falls. Does it make any sense that someone charging in backless flip flops would still be wearing them when he fell?
It doesn't.
What's far more plausible is that Michael Brown moved in one direction and one direction only; away from the police car, away from the bullets and not very quickly. Michael Brown stopped and turned around, perhaps during that pause between bursts. It was officer Wilson who closed the distance as witnesses describe, and it was officer Wilson's second barrage of bullets that caused Michael Brown to pitch forward dead or dying onto the pavement, still in his flip flops.
The only time the word "charging" should be used in the context of this attrocity is when charging the officer.