Jury Finds Against Pleasantville, Officer Who Shot DJ Henry

PLEASANTVILLE, NY — A civil trial stemming from a white Pleasantville police officer's fatal shooting of a black Pace University student has resulted in a $150,000 award, The Journal News reported.

Several students and bystanders had accused police of excessive force and other civil rights violations during an incident in Thornwood on Oct. 17, 2010.

The trouble started when Aaron Hess, an off-duty Pleasantville officer, called his colleagues in Mount Pleasant to report a disturbance outside Finnegan's, where members of the Pace football team and their friends were celebrating after the homecoming game.

Hess stayed at the scene, and after a Mount Pleasant officer told DJ Henry, the driver of a car stopped in a fire zone, to move on, Hess opened fire on the car alleging it had hit him as it moved. Ambulance personnel called to the scene treated Hess for a leg injury before turning to Henry, who bled out on the pavement as witnesses begged them for help. Then when top police officials spoke publicly about the situation, they kept quiet about the fact that another police officer thought Hess was the agressor.

Hess was named Officer of the Year in 2011 by the Pleasantville police union.

In 2016, Henry's family accepted a $6 million settlement from Hess and the town of Mount Pleasant. Town officials admitted that "statements made by its officials in the hours after the incident caused additional pain to the Henry family."

The jury in the civil case, which wrapped up Thursday, ruled against Hess and the Pleasantville Police Department in favor of Desmond Hinds, who was a passenger in Henry's car, lohud reported.

The case drew new attention after subsequent shootings of black men and boys by police officers.

SEE:

• DJ Henry's Family Awarded $6M Over Police Shooting
• Settling with DJ Henry's Family, Town Issues Limited Apology
• No Federal Charges in Cop's Fatal Shooting of Black Student
• Pleasantville Officer Hess Leaves on Disability Retirement
• Letter to the Editor: DJ Henry Story Should Not Go Away
• DJ Henry: Parents, Lawyer Claim Cover Up by Authorities
• Conflicting Accounts of DJ Henry Shooting Continue to Emerge
• Aaron Hess Named Officer of the Year by Pleasantville Police Union
• DJ Henry Remembered at Pace 5 Years After Shooting
• Kanye West/Jay-Z Commemorate DJ Henry in Rap