BASTROP — A teary-eyed Lillie Parker says there is no justice.
A judge in the murder trial of her friend Yvette Smith declared a mistrial late last week.
In February last year, Smith was caught in the middle of an ugly and possibly violent argument between her boyfriend Willie Thomas and his son Chris.
Just after midnight, Bastrop County sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Willis went to the Zimmerman Ave property after receiving a 911 call.
When the cop arrived, things seemed relatively calm.
The 47-year-old woman was standing near the front door, when the policeman ordered her to come out of the house.
An unarmed Smith stepped out only to be fatally shot seconds later by Officer Willis.
Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Bastrop County and Sheriff Terry Pickering in February this year.
Following the debacle, the sheriff’s department told the media that the victim was actually armed and hence a threat. This statement had to be later retracted for simply being untrue.
In fact, the lawsuit states that she wasn’t carrying anything that even distantly looked like a weapon.
It turns out that the officer thought she was holding “an object” in her hands.
It further states that the sheriff’s department altered Willis’ record to make the cop look good.
An investigation by the Blount County sheriff’s office revealed that this was indeed true.
Sheriff Pickering defended changing Willis’ records by stating that the department was in the process of updating records before the incident occurred.
He said the changes to the accused man’s documents were part of that procedure.
Despite these facts the case has been closed.
The jury said they simply could not deliver a verdict.
The men and women, who had been deliberating over the evidence for nearly three days said it was impossible for them to reach a joint conclusion.
This means that Willis will not be convicted of murdering Smith and will be allowed to walk away.
Lillie Piper says she cannot believe what has happened.
“It was cold blooded murder, who can’t see that?” she asks.
The prosecutor Forrest Sanderson says they will be seeking a retrial on a murder charge, and there is no way that they will look at anything less.
Willis’ attorney Robert McCabe, on the other hand, says the case is closed and that is how it should remain.
“They had their shot, they didn’t make it. This case doesn’t belong in the criminal court,” he says.
The issue has sparked plenty of interest, with the community wondering how safe they are given that a man who made an obvious lapse in judgment, which led to the loss of life, is now allowed to walk free.
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