Autopsy reveals Jason Walker was shot 4 times, including shot to head and back
A Fayetteville man gunned down in front of his family home by an off-duty Cumberland County deputy in January was shot at least four times including a gunshot to the right side of his head and a shot to his back, according to an autopsy report released Thursday.
“The information in this official autopsy report confirms what we already knew – that Jason Walker was killed unjustly in cold blood by off-duty deputy Jeffrey Hash. This is clearly excessive," a statement issued Thursday afternoon by Walker's family and renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump said. "A trained law enforcement officer knows that shooting someone that many times and in those parts of the body is shooting to kill ...
"We will continue to push for transparency from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the family of Jason Walker is demanding murder charges be filed against Hash by the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys.”
Walker, 37, was killed in a confrontation with Sheriff's Lt. Jeffery Hash on Jan. 8. Hash was off duty and driving with his wife and daughter past Walker's Bingham Drive home when he claimed Walker jumped onto the hood of his pickup truck and busted the windshield. Hash's version of events matched those of Walker's own father who was captured on police body camera telling an officer that he witnessed his son jump on the truck and saw Hash get out and shoot him.
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According to the autopsy, Walker sustained:
a penetrating gunshot wound of the head and neck with a hollow-point bullet recovered from his spine;
a penetrating gunshot wound of the torso with the hollow-point bullet recovered from his back;
a perforating gunshot wound to the left upper back that exited his left lower back;
and a perforating gunshot wound that entered and exited his left thigh.
The gunshot wound to the torso entered the lower chest and pierced Walker's heart, stomach, liver and pancreas.
The manner of death is determined to be homicide, the report states.
"Based on the autopsy findings and circumstances surrounding the death, as currently understood, the cause of death is listed as multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death is classified as homicide," the report concludes.
Toxicology testing found Walker's blood contained only traces of nicotine, caffeine and medicinal levels of diphenhydramine, an ingredient most commonly found in allergy medication.
"No alcohol or common drugs of abuse were detected," according to the report.
Walker's killing has sparked outrage that Hash was not arrested or even disarmed at the scene. Since the killing, a small group of demonstrators has maintained a presence in the streets and online demanding the deputy's arrest. Another protest was set for 6 p.m. Thursday evening in front of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.
According to the Sheriff's Office, in the wake of the killing, Hash was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The Fayetteville Police Department handed over the criminal probe into the shooting to the State Bureau of Investigation. Any potential prosecution in the case was turned over by the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office to the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys.
Military & Crime Editor F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Autopsy reveals Jason Walker was shot 4 times, death ruled homicide
