Fletcher man's death after being tasered, punched, restrained by police not a crime: DA

Henderson County's district attorney has determined the death of a Fletcher man who was tasered, punched and restrained by police for 14 minutes was not a crime, saying drugs in his system, a heart defect and his choice to struggle with officers were to blame.

DA Andrew Murray announced the decision not to charge officers Aug. 30, more than a year after Christopher Hensley's June 15, 2022 death. Disagreeing were families members including Hensley's wife, who on the day of his death called 911 to say he was on drugs and she needed help. A former youth pastor, Hensley was a father of two daughters.

A Dec. 6 autopsy said physical restraint contributed to Hensley's death, concluding the fatality was "best classified as a homicide." But Murray in his Aug. 30 letter to the State Bureau of Investigation said other factors played more prominent roles.

"Sadly, the decedent died of a heart attack caused by multiple contributing factors. Two of the three factors were within his power to prevent. The decedent ingested potentially lethal amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine by choice, and by choice, he controlled the length and degree of physical exertion he was enduring," the DA said.

"As such, I do not find that any of the officers that were involved in restraining the decedent were criminally responsible for his death by heart attack."

His letter, which gave many new details of the fatal police encounter, referenced what he called an "extremely voluminous" SBI investigative report with thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of pictures, hours of videotaped interviews with all officers and police body camera footage.

SBI investigation reports are not public documents.

The Citizen Times petitioned a Henderson County Superior Court judge for release of the bodycam footage but was denied after a Feb. 7 North Carolina Court of Appeals decision saying the process the newspaper and others had been using to gain access to police video was flawed.

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Officers responded last year to a 911 call by Hensley's wife, Teresa Hensley, who said he was acting erratically, appeared to be on drugs and would not let her leave their apartment with her newborn baby.

Bystander video of the incident in the apartment parking lot showed multiple officers piled on top of Hensley, who at one point was handcuffed and lying on his chest. A witness interviewed by the Citizen Times said after being shocked with a Taser Hensley was "shaking" with his face "turning beet red." The video later showed officers giving him chest compressions. Hensley, 35, died in officers' custody.

Asked about the DA's decision, Teresa Hensley said "it is wrong and I disagree," but declined to comment on specific parts of Murray's five-page letter.

Hensley's mother, Catherine Hensley, said she was "extremely disappointed."

"My son did not do anything to die that way, and not to take responsibility is unbelievable."

She said there were "too many inconsistencies" but declined to elaborate and referred further questions to their attorney to whom the Citizen Times reached out.

Who were the officers?

Two Fletcher police officers responded to the 911 call. They were later joined by Henderson County sheriff's deputies. Murray references five officers working to restrain Hensley. Bystander video shows seven, though some may not have engaged in the struggle. One non-officer bystander helped to restrain him.

Fletcher officers Sgt. Michael Elizondo and Michael Teets were put on administrative leave after Hensley's death. Elizondo returned to full duty less than a month later and Teets, who was injured in the arrest, went to light duty, eventually leaving the department on what Fletcher Police Chief Dan Terry said were good terms to take a job in the private sector.

More: Henderson County DA: Cop's force against 5th-grader was 'not excessive'; no charges

Terry said he was grateful for the DA's decision and believed it was the correct.

"No one wants this type of incident to occur in their community. But, as we know, in our present world, these type events do occur, even in small and safe communities like Fletcher," he said.

"Though grateful for the outcome received today, we recognize there are those in the community that are still suffering and in pain because of this event and we are mindful of them."

Of the five deputies involved, one, Seth Summey, resigned, according to public records. The other four − Zack Ritter, Josh Garren, Zach Warren and Rob Martin − were still working under Sheriff Lowell Griffin.

Sheriff's spokesperson Capt. Johnny Duncan said Griffin had "thoroughly examined the findings presented by District Attorney Andrew Murray" and that "subsequently, Sheriff Griffin is in concurrence with the conclusions drawn by District Attorney Murray."

Duncan said the sheriff declined further comment "in light of this alignment."

Asked for comment by the Citizen Times, Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely called Hensley's death a "tragic loss of a community member" and said "our hearts go out to two daughters who will be without their father."

"As we navigate this challenge, we're committed to supporting all community members, especially those grappling with mental health illness and substance abuse disorder. The incident has posed challenges for everyone involved and our community at large," he said.

Blakely has declined prior requests for comment on Hensley's death, citing the criminal investigation. Earlier this year he and other Town Council members voted to supply police with bodycams, Fletcher's biggest budget line item.

In his Aug. 30 statement, the mayor offered support for the police department, saying officers remain "professional, well-prepared" and striving "to ensure the well-being of all community members."

"It's essential to highlight our collaborative partnership with the police, emphasizing the joint effort to safeguard citizens and equip our officers with empathetic and effective training for their service.”

Murray served as Mecklenburg County district attorney before being appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina by President Donald Trump in 2017. In 2021 Gov. Roy Cooper appointed him fill the remainder of DA Greg Newman's term for the 42nd prosecutorial district for Henderson, Transylvania and Polk Counties. During that time, Murray's son, a police officer in the town of Cornelius, died from a medical event. Murray was elected to a four-year term in 2022.

According to an estimate Murray gave the Citizen Times in 2022, he has dealt with more than 10 instances of fatalities caused by officers shooting someone, a different situation than Hensley's death. In each instance Murray declined to bring charges.

In his decision letter, Murray described Hensley as "uncooperative, angry, and extremely agitated that the officers were in his home." He said Hensley immediately challenged them and was "obviously hyped up on some type of drug."

He noted Hensley's size, 5 feet, 11 inches and 272 pounds, and said he was strong and an avid weight lifter, according to an interview with a close friend.

According to Murray's letter, officers arrived at 8:37 p.m. at the Seasons at Cane Creek apartments. They escorted him to the parking area at 8:49 p.m., but he attempted to move around them toward his apartment's stairwell. Officers told him "not to do it," and one of them put his hand on Hensley's shoulder.

Hensley "became immediately incensed and started screaming, "get the f__k  off me," Murray said. They told him he was being detained and to put his hands behind his back. He refused and for the next 14 minutes tried to evade them and struggled with officers.

More: Henderson County DA: Cop's force against 5th-grader was 'not excessive'; no charges

Officers kicked, struck and used Tasers on him. At 9:06 p.m. with Hensley on his chest, five officers were able to pull his hands from beneath him and handcuff him. Hensley kicked again, Murray said. Bystander video shows officers delivering blows with hands and knees.

A minute later, at 9:07 p.m. the non-officer bystander and an officer noticed Hensley did not appear to be awake. Officers found Hensley had no pulse and rolled him over and began chest compressions and gave him the drug overdose antidote naloxone, Murray said.

Letter to SBI From DA Andrew Murray by Joel Burgess on Scribd

Hendersonville Times-News Editor Dean Hensley contributed to this report.

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Fletcher man died after tasered, restrained by police; DA: no crime