Asheville mother says her arrest as son died in fatal shooting was 'inhumane'

ASHEVILLE — The night her son, Elijah Timmons III, was shot and killed in a Hendersonville parking lot, Patricia King remembers being awakened by a call from her daughter saying Timmons had been shot.

By the end of the night, the mother would end up in handcuffs while the man who shot and killed her child has been exonerated in a self-defense claim based on one surveillance footage clip, while none of the many witnesses in the parking lot that night have come forward to testify.

After speeding to the Henderson Crossing Plaza parking lot from Candler in the early morning hours of Nov. 24, King said the only thing she saw was her son’s head and hand hanging out of a white sheet and all she thought was "get to your son."

“I’m thinking, ‘Get to your baby, see your baby, grab your baby,’” King told the Citizen Times in December. “I jumped out of my car and ran for my son.”

King said the next thing she knew, she was “slammed” on the ground by Hendersonville Police Department officers, face first.

“My arms were being yanked from me and pulled so they could put handcuffs on me,” King said. “So, they’re wrestling me, I’m screaming and hollering, I’m hearing people say, ‘that’s his Mama, that’s his Mama.’”

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

The mother said her breath eventually escaped her and she attempted to tell the officers that she couldn’t breathe.

“I’m saying over and over that I can’t breathe,” King said. “And finally, I lifted my head off the pavement just enough for me to say, ‘I can’t breathe,’ and I heard one of the cops say, ‘oh …, she can’t breathe, turn her over, turn her over.’”

King claims that after she was turned over, officers dragged her on the concrete to the point where her pants fell below her backside, while feet away from where her son lay. She said she suffered bruising on her ankles, knees, back and elbows from the interaction and still has heightened anxiety surrounding that night.

King said not a single person helped to pull her pants up while she was in handcuffs until she was taken to the Henderson County Detention Center and asked for a woman officer to help her, according to King.

“The way it was characterized to me is that she arrived on scene and ran past the crime scene tape,” Hendersonville Chief of Police Blair Myhand told the Citizen Times. “What I was told happened is that she punched a Henderson County Sheriff’s deputy in the face, and she kicked another one in the groin.”

Yet, King said there was no crime scene tape set up in the area of the parking lot where she entered, and it wasn’t until after she was in handcuffs that officers placed a string of tape to block off the area.

She also asserts that she never laid a hand on any officer, saying, “My mission was to get to my child. I don’t know why they’re saying I hit them other than the fact that they have to say something because they arrested me for nothing.”

Previous investigation update: Police investigating shooting death of Asheville man in Hendersonville as murder; suspect?

Myhand told the Citizen Times that he cannot say for certain in this case without watching all the video evidence, but his officers typically inform someone on why they’re being arrested before leaving a scene.

However, King said that no one told her why she was being arrested and what her charges were before she was taken to the detention center or while she was waiting there for “hours” to see a magistrate.

“I was just like, why are y’all doing this? Why am I being arrested? Would you do this if this was somebody that looked like you? I was saying anything to try to get an answer or understand why I was being arrested," King said, adding that she feels the way officers treated her was “inhumane.”

King was eventually charged with assault on a government official and resisting a public officer. She has a court date of Jan. 18.

Myhand confirmed that King submitted a complaint against the Hendersonville police officers and an internal investigation will ensue, once the mother is ready to be interviewed regarding her claims.

"All camera footage is being reviewed as part of the complaint investigation process," spokesperson Allison Justus with the city of Hendersonville told the Citizen Times.

Shooting ruled as self-defense: Police: No charges in fatal shooting of Asheville man; shooter's name not released

When the Citizen Times asked Henderson County District Attorney Andrew Murray if he had reviewed any footage of the mother’s arrest, he said, “I know nothing about the mom’s arrest. … The only way I knew is when I met with her, she told me that she had been arrested that night.”

“That case is not ripe yet,” Murray said, regarding the mother's arrest. “I expect it’s not into the system to the point where we’d look to review it and talk to officers and see their bodycam and make decisions. It’s not to that point.”

Murray said King’s first appearance date on Jan. 18 would be the first chance for them to figure out “what’s going on and what the officer has.”

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Myhand said there have only been two disciplinary actions against officers in the past 12 months, one of whom is no longer with the department. The other was not working the night of the incident, Myhand said.

“It’s a very sad situation, I totally understand how a mother would be very distraught having just learned that her son was dead in a parking lot,” Myhand said. “But we control crime scenes so we can collect the correct evidence and have a successful prosecution months and sometimes years later.”

More details into the shooting

The Hendersonville Police Department, in consultation with the District Attorney’s Office, determined that Timmons’ shooter acted in self-defense based on surveillance footage, as announced in a Dec. 12 news release from the city of Hendersonville.

Timmons, who lived in Asheville, was 30 years old and had three young children.

In the surveillance video, Timmons allegedly raises his hand “in a manner that is consistent with someone shooting a firearm” and a “flash of light” comes from his hand, Myhand said.

The shooter then immediately returns fire, shooting Timmons in the head, who falls to the ground, according to Myhand.

The firearm found near Timmons by police officers was determined to have been fired based on a shell casing matching the gun.

Timmons' girlfriend, Tyshala Pea, said she was with him the entire night at a club in the shopping plaza called Orchard Bar and Grill. She told the Citizen Times that she was pulling the car to the front of the parking lot when she saw Timmons walking out of the club backwards followed by a crowd of people coming toward him.

“I drove my car over there, and he was fighting one dude, but once he settled down everybody else was hitting him,” Pea said. “The crowd migrated (into the parking lot) and as all this is going on you can hear the other guys saying, we’re going to be airing this out,’ basically saying they’re going to be shooting.”

A 911 call made to the Henderson County Emergency Services, obtained by the Citizen Times, confirms reports of a fight having broken out in the Henderson Crossing Plaza.

Pea said by the time she drove her car to the front of the parking lot, she saw the shooter’s arm go up and Timmons fall to the ground. She said she ran over to him “to say my goodbyes,” and people were trying to pull her off him, including people she didn’t know.

When asked if the police found any evidence that Timmons was surrounded by multiple people before the shooting, Myhand said “No, but we do know that he and the shooter were in a physical altercation prior to the shooting happening.”

“In my opinion, is this self-defense in the truest sense of it? Probably not,” Myhand said. “But again, the DA and our folks believe there’s no way in the world you could prosecute the shooter for a crime when he’s shooting back after someone’s shooting at him.”

“I was consulted, I reviewed evidence with law enforcement,” Murray said. “I reviewed the video and I concur, based on the available evidence that it was self-defense pending any other evidence materializing.”

'No respect for Black lives'

King said that she feels the way she was treated the night of her son's death and the fact that no charges were pressed against her son's shooter comes down to a lack of respect for the Black community. She said the officers involved in her arrest were all white.

“I feel like the reason they are doing this is a spit in the face, like y’all are from Asheville, we are from Hendersonville, we don’t have time for y’all’s mess," King told the Citizen Times, adding that she was treated "like an animal" at the scene of the crime and at the Henderson County jail.

"Their idea is to cause havoc in the community. They’re not doing their job … and have no respect or regard for Black lives.”

Myhand said there were dozens of people in the parking lot that night, but not a single person has come forward with any information.

The Hendersonville Police Department said they will not release the identity of the shooter or the surveillance video. Justus said the location of the surveillance footage will also not be released.

“That’s one of the biggest tragedies of this entire situation is that a mother believes her son was unjustly killed and will not get the justice that she believes that he deserves,” Myhand said. “Because if there is evidence that shows that this was actually not a self-defense case, we would 100% want to see that, and we would make the appropriate charges if warranted. But people just aren’t willing to talk to us.”

Anyone with evidence or new information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Hendersonville Police Department at 828-697-3025. Anonymous tips may also be submitted through the Hendersonville Police Department App which can be downloaded from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store by searching “Hendersonville PD.”

King is holding a silent protest from 1-5 p.m. Jan. 5 in honor of Timmons. The "peaceful and silent" protest is meant to show support for "our lost children and mourning mothers, as well as asking for accountability from the police and the DA," according to a pamphlet obtained by the Citizen Times. The vigil will be at the Hendersonville Courthouse, 200 N. Grove St. Suite 163.

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 on night of son's fatal shooting