Family Awaits Justice for Pace University Student Shot by Cop

Pace University student Danroy “DJ” Henry lost a football game on the afternoon of October 16. But before he would make it home that night, he would lose something far greater: his life.

In the early morning hours of October 17, DJ was shot and killed by a Westchester County, New York, police officer. His good friend would be shot too and sent to the hospital to recover. According to friends and family, DJ was a young man with a “heart of gold," someone bound for success. His memorial service filled the ballroom at the Boston Convention Center, held on what would have been his 21st birthday.

While they mourn the loss of a son, DJ’s family is patiently awaiting justice in the case. They initially struggled to get the facts because there was a veil of secrecy surrounding what happened in those early morning hours. Now, they are unsure their son’s case will get the fair and just attention it deserves, as it's being investigated (at least in part) by the very police department responsible for his death.

By all accounts, DJ had half of a mixed drink that night, around 9:00 p.m. He stayed out late with friends but was the “designated driver." He spent some time dancing with an ex-girlfriend and visiting a few parties on campus. Around 1:30 am he was in his car with his best friend and high school classmate, Brandon Cox. They were parked in the firelane at Finnegan’s Grill waiting for a few friends to come out. It was then that an officer rapped on DJ’s window. DJ began to drive off. In the following seconds, a cop would end up on the hood of DJ’s car and several shots would be fired directly through the windshield -- hitting DJ three times and Brandon once.

Why did DJ drive off? No one really knows for certain. There was nothing in the car for him to hide and he wasn’t the type to “flee” from police. Witnesses say the officer stepped out in front of the vehicle as it was turning left, gun drawn, ordering DJ to stop. The officer claims he couldn’t get out of the way in time and the car was an immediate threat to his life.

DJ was hit twice in the chest and once in the shoulder. Immediately following the shooting, he would be pulled from the car and laid out on the concrete. He would be cuffed as he lay on the ground bleeding to death. Police say they attended to him within the first five minutes. His friends and teammates say it was more like 15.

Autopsy results would show that DJ had alcohol in his system. His blood alcohol content was 0.13 percent, a level that would have required he drink about six drinks in four hours—something that simply didn’t happen; there were just trace amounts of alcohol in his digestive system. His family’s attorney has suggested the discrepancy between what the autopsy shows and what countless witnesses have stated may be a result of natural chemical reactions in the body after death, or even police tampering.

The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office will be presenting evidence to a grand jury this month. It’s expected to be a lengthy process and could take weeks for all of the evidence to be laid out. While the DA’s office states the investigation has largely been handled by the New York State Police, others are calling foul as it’s believed the hardly impartial local police departments have taken part in the investigation.

The Henry family and supporters have repeatedly called on the U.S. Department of Justice to take over the investigation in the interest of objectivity, though their calls seem to have fallen on deaf ears. They’ve held letter writing campaigns and marched in support of the four other men who were arrested that night.

DJ Henry had a promising future. Danroy and Angella Henry had a son they could be proud of. Now, the community demands accountability from the police department responsible for snatching the young man from this world. Stand with them in calling for a transparent and fair investigation into the police murder of DJ Henry.

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Photo Credit: Henry family