A grand jury in a suburb north of New York City Monday declined to indict a police officer in the death of Danroy Henry, Jr., a Pace University football player shot while driving his car outside a bar in the Westchester County town of Thornwood.Henry's father and his lawyer said they were not surprised by the decision and vowed to take the case to the United States Department of Justice and to pursue a civil suit.
"My faith was never in district attorney (Janet) DiFiore," Danroy Henry, Sr., said in a telephone conference call. "Our faith is in God. We were hoping she would surprise us but we had no faith in her."
Henry died a week before his 21st birthday and a few hours after the homecoming game from wounds caused by bullets fired from the gun of Aaron Hess, a police officer in Pleasantville, N.Y., who responded to a call to quell a disturbance in a parking lot after 1 a.m. on Oct. 17.
Although Henry was not involved in the fighting, Hess shot him from the hood of Henry's moving car. Police and witnesses disagreed as to whether police had told Henry to move his car or if Henry's actions put the officer in danger.
In a prepared statement, DiFiore said the grand jury of 23 persons heard testimony from 85 witnesses, including two passengers in the car with Henry and also from Hess, who testified without protection of immunity from prosecution. More than 100 exhibits were admitted into evidence at a proceeding which began on Jan. 10.
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