Friend says dead teen was drunk when he was tased

By Angela Hatcher
WSLS10 Reporter/Anchor
Published: January 9, 2009

11p.m. story script
The splintered door jamb, footprints from someone kicking the door and blood on the door all gave Martinsville Officer R.L. Wray reason to enter the duplex at 307 Rives Road.

It’s where Officer Wray tased a 17 year old, who died moments later.  At a news conference, Chief Mike Rogers says the young man came at Officer Wray in threatening way.

“The officer was well within our guidelines in using the taser based on the circumstances we know.“, says Rogers.

The chief tells us earlier in the evening, the young man who died was sitting on the side of the road.  He was not wearing a shirt or shoes.  At one point, the young man laid down in the middle of the road with his friends around him, yelling for him to get up.  The chief wants to find and talk to those friends to find out if anything that happened outside contributed to that young man’s death.

“I said he was going to get hit by a car, so I finally got him back in the house and we were inside for like 35 seconds before the cops pulled up.“, says Justin Gregory.

Fifteen year old Justin Gregory is one of those friends.  Officer Wray saw him run up the duplex stairs.  Gregory says this is what he told Officer Wray.

“Derick’s drunk right now and he’s mad.“, says Gregory.

Gregory tells us his friend had been drinking alcoholic energy drinks the night he died. 

Chief Rogers would not speculate on any pre-existing condition the young man might have had.

Rogers did tell us, “When our officers went through the training all of us as part of that training is being hit by the taser. I’ve been through it. I know what it’s like and it’s hard for me to believe that the taser would cause this young’s man’s death.“

The young man’s mother returned home Friday evening with empty suitcases.  Her pastor helped her collect some things as she waits to find out the exact reason why her son is no longer here.