Schertz drops teen’s charge for pot

Youth arrested in viral video still faces other complaints

Prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor marijuana charge against a teenager who was tackled, kicked and shot with a stun gun by Schertz police officers during an arrest last month.

Lorna Dean, a manager in the Guadalupe County Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday that the marijuana possession charge pending against Zekee Rayford, 18, was dismissed because officers conducted a “premature search.”

Dean declined to comment on three other charges. According to Guadalupe County court records, those have not been filed, meaning they are likely under review.

Rayford was arrested Nov. 2 after two police officers said Rayford ran a red light on Schertz Parkway and failed to pull over.

Rayford, who is Black, said he continued driving because he was scared of stopping on what his family described as a dimly lighted and isolated road in the subdivision where his family lives.

After he pulled into his driveway, Rayford got out of his car with his hands up and car keys in hand, according to security footage. Instead of getting on the ground, he ran for the front door and began pounding on it while screaming for his father.

Officers Frank Chavarria and Megan Fennesy chased Rayford to the door, where they repeatedly kicked him and used a stun gun on him. Officer Danielle Apgar, who arrived shortly afterward, stood by.

In total, his family said, Rayford was shot by a stun gun six times.

Officers arrested Rayford on suspicion of evading arrest with a vehicle, a felony, and evading arrest by foot, resisting arrest, and possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana, all misdemeanors.

Video of the arrest captured by a home security camera has been viewed by thousands on social media and drawn criticism from Rayford’s family and Black Lives Matter activists.

Shortly after the arrest, the Schertz Police Department said it would conduct an internal investigation into the officers’ actions to ensure that all “department policies and procedures were followed.”

Chavarria, Fennesy and Apgar were temporarily reassigned to other duties within the department during the investigation.

Artessia “Tess” House and Daryl Washington, two attorneys retained by Rayford, have called on prosecutors to dismiss the remaining charges against him.