Combat veteran killed by Texas deputy buried in Alabama on 9/11
MONTEVALLO, ALA.
His Army stint complete after serving in Afghanistan, Damian Daniels left Alabama to begin a new life in Texas. He bought a house, enrolled in college and supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Black himself, Daniels was working to start a new business when paranoid hallucinations began last month and a brother sought help from police.
Shot dead by officers who were sent to aid him, Daniels was buried Friday on Sept. 11, the anniversary of the date that sent him down the path to war.
Relatives gathered at
Alabama National Cemetery, about 30 miles south of Birmingham, to mourn a death they are still trying to understand.
The shooting is still under review in San Antonio, where a sheriff defended officers’ actions but a county leader said the killing never should have occurred. Grand jurors will review what happened, a prosecutor has said.
Daniels suffered from a mild case of post-traumatic stress disorder linked to his military service, but he hadn’t shown signs of more severe mental problems, family attorney Lee Merritt said. Relatives said the man seemed fine until about Aug. 22, when he suddenly started making odd comments.