Family waiting for closure 3 years after fatal police shootout
TRENTON » It’s been nearly three years since 31-yearold Darnell Stafford was killed during a shootout with police following an alleged home invasion.
Since then, his family, which includes his 14-yearold daughter, has struggled mentally and emotionally. Although media reported the fatal shooting as a seemingly cut-and-dry matter, Stafford’s family is left with questions. They said the last time they talked with a representative from the prosecutor’s office was at least a year ago.
“They never gave me my son’s autopsy report, saying it was an ongoing investigation and that the case was still open; but on another occasion they told me the case was closed,” Stafford’s mother Phyllis Hooks told The Trentonian. “I’m not getting anywhere with them.”
At the time of the incident, law enforcement officials said the fatal shooting was justified based on evidence suggesting Stafford had fired gunshots into a cruiser occupied by Trenton Police Officers Robert Albanowski and Marlon Parrot, both of whom have since retired from the department.
Initial accounts reported police received an emergency 911 call from an adolescent who said a man with a gun had just invaded a home in the first block of Wilson Street. The man was reportedly holding a family hostage, threatening to kill them. The child who called police had escaped from the house.
When the officers arrived on-scene around 7 a.m., they saw the suspect, later identified as Stafford, who was allegedly chasing a victim down the street. Stafford then fired directly at the cops, according to officials who say the officers returned fire, striking him several times. Stafford later died at the hospital.
Following that shootout on the morning of November 13, 2014, media descended on the capital city and reported the killing as justifiable, after seeing three bullet holes in the windshield directly in front of the driver’s seat of the police cruiser.
Since then, media has remained mostly silent regarding the case as it awaits an official report about the killing. Per Attorney General guidelines, whenever a cop discharges his service weapon, the county prosecutor’s office must investigate the matter and submit a formal report to the AG, who agrees or disagrees with the findings and determination of the prosecutor. A disagreement would result in further investigation.
Although the family has never received Stafford’s autopsy report, a chart given to them by the hospital — and shared with this newspaper — shows that he was shot more than 10 times that fatal Thursday morning. Hooks also says a representative from the prosecutor’s office gave her conflicting information regarding how her son died.
“When it first happened, they told me police arrived and saw my son walking down the street, and that the cop pulled up on the side of Darnell and my son started shooting. But that didn’t sound right to me because bullets hit the front of the police car,” Hooks said. “Then, the second time, they told me my son was coming out of the house. So, they gave me two different stories.”
Raising additional questions about the use of force, an NBC news report from that day quotes an anonymous witness who said, “It’s justified for you to return fire; I have no problem with that. But, I mean, 20 (to) 30 shots after the guy was on the ground?”
Hooks said the family initially accepted the fatal shooting as a justified use of force, but due to the amount of time it has taken for an official report to be released, “we recently went to see a lawyer.” It’s a priority because we have to turn it over to the AG’s office.”
In recent years, activists and lawmakers across the country have called for use of force investigations to be conducted by an independent party with no ties to the local police department involved in the incident. Many believe prosecutors are unable to remain impartial when investigating officers who may have previously testified on behalf of prosecutors in an unrelated criminal case. When use of force investigations take as long as it has in the Stafford case, the perception of bias only grows.
“There’s no one-sizefits-all response as to who should investigate (use of force) or how quickly they should make results available,” said Dr. Melissa Hamilton, who earned a Ph.D in Criminology from the University of Texas at Austin, and also served a short stint as a police officer. “I like the idea of assuming police officers do good, but at the same time there’s bad eggs, and good officers may not do the right thing. So, there could be valid reasons for prosecutors to investigate and valid reasons for there to be an independent party.”
Stafford’s family doesn’t claim that something nefarious happened that tragic November day. But they’re confused and yearning for closure.
“If it was a justifiable shooting on the part of police, why is it taking so long to close this case and to get information,” Hooks said. “I’ve seen in other instances across the country that the cases are finalized. All I want are some answers to what happened that day and who was responsible.”