Victim’s kin: Slay probe is ‘flawed’
By Christine McConville | Tuesday, October 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald (file)
The outraged lawyer for the family of Danroy Henry Jr. upped the ante in the controversial case yesterday, calling on federal officials to take over the probe of the Pace University football player’s fatal shooting at the hands of local police.
“The investigation is fatally flawed,” New York lawyer Michael Sussman said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
“An independent investigation is required to ensure that the truth about what happened is determined and revealed,” he added.
Sussman’s request comes as Bonita Zelman, the lawyer for four of Henry’s teammates, demands that the Mount Pleasant police chief suspend the officer who fired the deadly shot.
“I don’t want him riding around this town,” she said.
In the week since Henry was killed outside a popular Irish pub in Thornwood, N.Y., wildly differing accounts of the night’s events remain in dispute. The police charged with overseeing the probe say it will take months before the real story becomes known.
Here’s what is known. Last Sunday morning, shortly after 1 a.m., a fight broke out in the pub, and the rowdy patrons were evicted. When a local police officer saw 150 people congregating in the strip mall parking lot, he called for assistance.
One of the 50 officers who responded then motioned to Henry, an Easton native who was sitting in a parked car in the fire lane outside the pub.
Police say Henry sped off, hitting two police officers along the way, but witnesses, through their lawyer, said the officer jumped on the vehicle.
Then the officer on the hood shot into the car and hit Henry.
Police say they pulled Henry from his car and promptly administered aid, but Zelman said police prevented her clients from helping their dying teammate.
On Friday, hours after Zelman accused police of “brutalizing” her clients, an unnamed police source told the Associated Press Henry had a blood alcohol content of 0.13, above the legal limit of .08. Henry’s lawyer has disputed that claim.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1291560
