Assault charge dropped for mother arrested at son's shooting; she still seeks justice

HENDERSONVILLE – Although charges have been dropped against a mother who says she was "inhumanely" arrested feet from where her son lay dead, Patricia King continues to cry foul on a law enforcement and judicial system she says has been dehumanizing to her family and anything but transparent in the handling of her son's killing and a family's grief.

King's son, Elijah Timmons III, 30, of Asheville, was shot and killed the night of Nov. 24 in the Henderson Crossing Plaza parking lot amid a crowd of people. That night, King raced from her home in Candler to the parking lot in Hendersonville holding onto desperate hope — her daughter, Tranace Timmons, and a witness to the shooting, Tyshala Pea, told her by phone that "he still has a pulse."

When King arrived at the scene, Hendersonville police claim she crossed the crime scene tape, punched a Henderson County Sheriff's Office deputy in the mouth with a closed fist and kicked another in the groin. King and bystanders claim that law enforcement officers "slammed" her to the ground.

After extensive reporting by the Citizen Times, King's charges of assault on a government official and resisting a public officer were dismissed Feb. 19 by District Attorney Andrew Murray. But King claims she has been denied her right under N.C. General Statute 132-1.4A(b2) for a court order within seven business days of her filed petition to view body worn camera footage that allegedly shows her assault on an officer and subsequent arrest.

Mother arrested at son's shooting: Asheville mother says her arrest as son died in fatal shooting was 'inhumane'

King filed her petition with the police department on Jan. 19, leading to HPD's petition to superior court on Jan. 23. The judge's order was signed by Henderson County Superior Court Judge Peter Knight on Feb. 12, seven days past the time frame allotted in state statute, according to court documents obtained by the Citizen Times.

King is scheduled for a March 4 hearing in front of Knight in Henderson County regarding disclosure of the footage. Police Chief Blair Myhand told King in an audio recording obtained by the Citizen Times that they will be "subpoenaing every police officer that was there to come to this hearing and they'll all have the opportunity to object to it."

What does the bodycam footage show?

Murray told the Citizen Times Feb. 20 he used his discretion to drop King's assault charges because she had just lost her child and "that makes it a difficult situation." But he insisted the dismissal was not due to lack of evidence of an assault.

"I watched the video; she would not clam down, she would not listen to reason," Murray said. "She was fighting and kicking and rolling and saying things that an officer should never hear about themselves."

However, when asked by the Citizen Times if he specifically watched footage of the alleged assault, Murray said he did not view the footage of King's initial interaction with officers where the punch allegedly happened, only the portion after she was handcuffed.

Timmons' father, Elijah Timmons Jr., said he was feet away and watched King's arrest that night after Thanksgiving. He said he saw multiple officers on his ex-wife's back, to the point she called out "I can't breathe."

When she was flipped onto her back, King said she was "dragged on the concrete" to the point her pants fell below her waist. Bystander video shows her sitting handcuffed in this state, feet away from where her son was haphazardly covered by a white sheet, his head wound exposed to bystanders.

"She was half naked on the damn ground and they're still pushing on her, grabbing on her, handcuffing her, touching her," Timmons Jr. said. He also said he overheard an officer tell his handcuffed former wife that if she didn’t calm down she would be "tased."

In bystander video, one officer kneels in front of King. She said he was telling her that she wouldn't want to see her son in that moment.

When asked if he's seen cases similar to this in Henderson County, King's attorney Micheal Lovejoy said, "nothing as specific as a mom, but there's been occasions where you see excessive force, in my opinion, a lot of times."

King filed complaints in mid-December with HPD and the sheriff's office over the way officers treated her. This led to an internal investigation by both law enforcement agencies where police say no wrongdoing was found on the part of officers.

King, who is Black, said she feels her mistreatment was in part racially motivated by the officers, all of whom are white.

“A lot of people have had issues like Patricia’s experienced, as far as miscommunication, their cases not being heard, feeling like their voices aren’t being heard," said Crystal Cauley, founder of the Black History Collective of Henderson County and the Black Business Network of WNC.

"I have witnessed and heard people talking about situations they’ve had with the Hendersonville Police Department and the racism that happens here in this city and county.”

The Citizen Times asked Myhand and Murray if they intend to get permission from a judge to release to the public officer bodycam and dashcam footage from that night. Both said no. The sheriff’s office would not answer questions regarding a pending investigation.

“What’s troublesome is that the police department has not released bodycam footage because this issue could have been resolved very quickly as far as what the court of public opinion is stating,” said Keith Ross, an expert from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and former master instructor for NYPD, who viewed a bystander video.

Initial reporting: Asheville man found shot to death in Hendersonville parking lot, suspect at large: police

Family, bystanders treated 'like criminals,' father says

Bystander videos from the night of Timmons III’s shooting show a chaotic scene of his sister dropping to the ground and crying out, multiple people being placed in handcuffs, bystanders yelling at cops "That's the mother!" and some people recording officers from outside the crime scene tape, yelling about what was happening. One woman is heard saying, “Y’all slammed her for no reason.”

Rob Thomas, founder of OUR AVL — a newly-formed Asheville alliance that organizes gatherings and conversations on eliminating racial injustice — viewed bystander video. Thomas told the Citizen Times he feels "it was handled very inhumane," saying the officers used fear-based control tactics, from an aggressive tone of voice to threatening the use of a Taser.

"There's a lot of grey area in what a police officer can and can't do," Thomas said. "I feel this is one of those situations that fits in the grey area where just because it's legal doesn't mean that it's right."

Family members brought up many concerns about the way officers handled the crime scene, which was initiated at 2:51 a.m. — about six minutes after Timmons' time of death, according to officer call notes. Timmons Jr. said he felt like the officers were "a bunch of rookies," and Pea added that they "were careless and rude."

"They treated us like we were a part of the crime," Timmons Jr. said. "They treated all of us like that, even me being the calmest one out of my daughters, my ex-wife, family and friends that were out there."

In one bystander video, a distinctive buzzing of a Taser is heard, and a police officer is seen pointing the Taser at a man, who is holding onto a child and ducking him out from a corner of the crime scene tape wrapped around a column of the Mighty Dollar store. Meanwhile, other officers are actively adjusting fallen tape.

The officer yells "back up, back up," pointing a Taser at the man. After getting the child outside the crime tape, the man walked to the other side of the column and steps outside tape that's lying on the ground.

"I'm about to tase you, back up," the officer said to the man.

"You ain't going to tase me now," the man replies, who has taken out a phone, seemingly to record the interaction.

"I'm going to, you better back up," the officer says.

Another bystander chimes in and yells, "you have no reason to tase him." The officer then puts his taser back in its holster and backs away.

Five officers were around at the time, one on someone's back putting him in handcuffs, another talking to a woman, and three standing nearby, the video shows.

“It was probably not justified for that officer to take (the Taser) out and point it, unless he was actually planning on deploying that taser,” said Ross, of John Jay, adding that he would not deploy the Taser in that situation, at least out of fear he would hit his fellow officer.

“Even if he was within the guidelines of the Hendersonville Police Department, we can all agree that the optics of that look terrible.”

The police department's general order on non-lethal instruments states Tasers "should not be deployed in situations where individuals are non-compliant or resistant, unless the non-compliance or resistance creates an immediate safety risk that can be mitigated" by its use. However, the order also says, "displaying a less-lethal instrument without actual use is not considered a use of force."

Why were no witnesses interviewed at scene?

Timmons Jr. said he knew at least three other people who were witnesses at the crime scene that night, none of whom were questioned by police. City spokesperson Allison Justus said no written statements were collected at the scene because none of the eyewitnesses to the crime were "willing to speak with officers."

"The way the police acted toward the crowd and the crime scene, that kind of turned everybody off," Timmons Jr. said. "The attitude of the officers reflect the attitude of the witnesses out there that night, who could've given the proper statement."

Both the DA and the chief stated that King's "uncontrollable behavior" contributed to the unrest with the bystanders. Murray said that King "escalated the scene where instead of officers trying to do interviews and find evidence, they had to pull all their time and energy into her and her stirring up others."

"My initial thought after hearing that we arrested the mother of the deceased was not good," Myhand said. "After reviewing the footage, it was plainly clear that for 10 minutes officers gave Ms. King numerous opportunities to calm down. ... Removing her was unfortunate, but the best option at that time."

There were 11 HPD officers on the scene that night, plus sheriff's deputies and at least one state trooper, according to Myhand.

“Regular innocent bystanders of a traumatic situation aren’t trained to control their emotions," said Keith Young, former Asheville City Council member and current Reparations Commission board member who viewed bystander video. "You expect your first responders to act with a certain decorum and empathy because that's what they're trained to do. This seems that there's just a complete lack of empathy.”

"At the very least," Young said, King should not have been charged, though she may have been removed from the scene for a moment for officers to control the scene.

"There was a total lack of a human element. ... I think historically, there is a lack of humanization of Black citizens in traumatic situations," Young said when asked what racial justice implications may be at play.

"I respect the fact that they have a job to do, but I just feel like Hendersonville police need to go through some sort of training to reevaluate the way they do things when it comes down to mental health, death and all kinds of situations," Timmons Jr. said.

"They got to do better because what they showed me that night was injustice, for my family and my son," Timmons Jr. added. "We want (the shooter) judged by a jury of 12."

What's next?

Timmons' shooter was exonerated Dec. 12 in a self-defense claim based on surveillance footage and a gun found at the scene, according to Myhand. But King has concerns over leads and evidence she feels police have not investigated.

HPD's probe into the shooting is not closed, Justus confirmed by email Feb. 20.

"But absent any new evidence, the self-defense determination will remain unchanged. As always, the public can contact the Hendersonville Police Department at 828-697-3025 if they have new information on the incident," she said.

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Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville mother arrested while grieving son's shooting death dropped