The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office in New York announced that they will not be convening a new grand jury in connection with the police-involved shooting death of Danroy “DJ” Henry, Jr. of Easton.
District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah released a statement saying that an independent review “concluded that there is no legal basis to resubmit charges to a new grand jury.”
This one of two reviews conducted by John Gleeson, a retired U.S. District Court judge, and Douglas Zolkind, a former federal prosecutor, both partners at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
Henry, who was a 20-year-old student at Pace University, was shot dead by Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess in October 2010 outside a bar in Mount Pleasant, N.Y.
Hess claimed Henry’s car struck him and he feared for his life.
The Henry family disputed that claim saying that Hess ran into the path of the car and opened fire.
The second review investigated the death of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old former Marine, who was shot by White Plains police in his home in November 2011.
While charges won’t be filed, Rocah said that they did, “identify areas where real analysis and reform are desperately needed,” and recommended “improvements for best practices for the Westchester DA’s Office in police-involved shootings where it maintains jurisdiction, and legislative proposals for enhanced law enforcement training, communication and mental health crisis intervention.”
