|
Home Search |
Published on Wednesday, July 24, 2002
in the Tallahassee Democrat
A Leon County grand jury cleared a Florida Highway Patrol trooper Tuesday in the death of an unarmed Alabama man who was shot four times on Interstate 10 in Tallahassee.
After Circuit Judge James Hankinson received the one-page report on the death of Genie McMeans Jr., a Highway Patrol spokesman said Trooper Kreshawn Walker-Vergenz probably will be returned to patrol duty in a few days. She had been assigned to administrative tasks at the local FHP headquarters since the May 9 incident near U.S. Highway 90.
Attorney Ben Crump, representing the McMeans family, called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation "a cover for the state." He said that he will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the shooting and that the McMeans family "absolutely" will file a wrongful-death suit against the state.
"It's full of lies," Sharon McMeans, the man's sister, said of the FDLE report. "They changed everything around to protect the officer. None of this was true. My brother was not suffering any psychological problems."
Like all grand jury proceedings, testimony and other evidence from the grand jury's daylong session is secret. However, after the grand jury ruled that the trooper should not be charged, the State Attorney's Office released the FDLE's investigative report.
McMeans, 23, was riding in his car, driven by Saul Ticona, a friend from the University of South Alabama. Ticona said that McMeans had been acting very strangely during what was supposed to be a three-week trip to Miami and that they were returning to Mobile after only one day in South Florida.
Ticona said that McMeans grabbed the steering wheel while they were traveling on I-10 and that when he saw the Highway Patrol car's flashing lights on the side of the road, he decided to stop for assistance. Walker-Vergenz, who had just finished writing a speeding ticket, told FDLE investigators she saw the car skid recklessly to a stop on the road shoulder.
"McMeans exited the passenger side of the vehicle shouting 'boom' and came at the trooper with his hands fully visible and empty-handed," the FDLE report said. "Trooper Walker-Vergenz was able to gain command of McMeans at gunpoint by ordering him to the ground beside the vehicle."
The report said McMeans stood up and again came toward Walker-Vergenz, who drew her gun and shouted for him to stop. Investigators said McMeans turned around and walked back to the car, leaning partly into it, and Walker-Vergenz shot him the first time in the right upper portion of his back.
Ticona and the trooper said McMeans sat in the car for several seconds, then stood up and walked toward Walker-Vergenz again - and was shot in the chest and abdomen.
"When McMeans was shot the first time, Trooper Walker-Vergenz did not see any weapons of any kind, did not have concern for Ticona, the driver, and was not at that time being physically confronted by McMeans," the FDLE report said. "Trooper Walker-Vergenz stated she 'thought' that McMeans was going for a weapon in the vehicle and due to the actions of McMeans, was in fear for her life."
No weapon was found during a search of the car or along the grassy shoulder.
FHP Chief Ken Howes said "the grand jury conclusion speaks for itself."
The rookie trooper's police career had been spotty. Walker-Vergenz resigned from the Leon County Sheriff's Department in 1996 after two months in a training academy and was fired by FHP in May of 2000 after failing a vehicle operation examination.
She rejoined the Highway Patrol last year. FHP said it is not uncommon for trainees to get a second chance.
Ticona told investigators he decided to stop for help when he saw Walker-Vergenz's patrol car, because McMeans had twice grabbed his steering wheel. The FDLE report said Ticona told the trooper, "My friend is trying to kill us."
The FDLE report said Ticona told of McMeans playing one song by Lauryn Hill on the car's CD player for the entire 12-hour trip to Miami. He said that McMeans told him he "had a vision" and "saw the Holy Spirit" and that Jesus was speaking through him.
"He was the one on trial here," Crump said. "The FDLE never went into her record."
Howes said FHP considers the matter closed.
"She's been assigned to administrative duties," he said. "We'll be, in the next few days, talking with her to determine a course of action. I imagine, eventually, there's no reason she would not go back to patrol. We just want to make sure that she's emotionally ready."