New Lawsuit Against Mt. Pleasant, Two Cops in Henry Case
The parents of slain Pace University student Danroy Henry Jr. have filed a lawsuit against Mount Pleasant and two town police officers for allegedly failing to provide first aid immediately following the fatal October 2010 shooting.
Attorney Michael Sussman, representing the Henry family, said Wednesday that officers Kevin Gilmartin and Ronald Gagnon have been included in a second suit because instead of calling medical personnel or initiating potentially life-saving treatment to Henry, they removed him from his car at the Thornwood Town Center, handcuffed him and stood over him.
As a result, any chance to save the 20-year-old from his gunshot wounds was lost, Sussman contended.
“The officers acted so irresponsible and so reckless and so inexcusable they must face the consequences in a federal case,” he said.
Sussman said the latest action comes as a result of statements made at ongoing deposition hearings in U.S. District Court in White Plains. The original litigation was filed last year against Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess, who fired the fatal bullet. He said it was possible the two suits could be combined by the court at some point.
Henry was shot three times by Hess in the early morning hours of Oct. 17, 2010, after he was told by police to move his car out of the fire lane while police were responding to reports of a disturbance at the old Finnegan’s at the shopping center. Hess was struck by Henry’s car, ending up on the vehicle’s hood. He then fired four shots, three of them hitting Henry.
Hess has cited self defense. He was cleared in February 2011 by a Westchester grand jury of any criminal wrongdoing.
In the new suit to be filed in federal district court, the family alleges that in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Henry, alive and conscious, was taken from his vehicle and moved behind a Mount Pleasant police car. Gagnon then handcuffed Henry, who had been moved about 15 feet, and the two officers placed him face down on the ground, Sussman said.
“In light of what they had seen and heard immediately before approaching Danroy Henry Jr.’s vehicle, defendants Gagnon and Gilmartin knew that the man they were handcuffing had been shot and needed medical attention,” the lawsuit states. “Yet neither defendant Gagnon nor Gilmartin asked Danroy Henry Jr. if he was injured and needed medical assistance. Neither defendant Gagnon nor Gilmartin provided, sought or obtained medical assistance for Danroy Henry Jr.”
Meanwhile, police officers at the scene treated Hess, who was injured less severely than Henry, while Gagnon stood over the stricken college student, the suit also stated.
Sussman said if the suit goes all the way to trial he did not expect it would begin before the latter half of 2014. Depositions are expected to last until February, he said.
The U.S. Justice Department continues to investigate the matter, Sussman added.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
