PORTLAND — The mother of an Oregon teenager who was fatally shot by a Portland police officer is demanding a federal Justice Department investigation into her son’s death.
Venus Hayes, the mother of 17-year-old Quanice Hayes, held a news conference Wednesday after a grand jury declined to indict Officer Andrew Hearst on criminal charges in the Feb. 9 shooting.
“Obviously the DA’s office is not for us, so I would like a higher authority on this situation — to help us do an investigation, so we can learn the truth about what happened to my baby,” she said.
The grand jury concluded Tuesday that Hearst was justified in shooting Hayes three times after police say Hayes reached for his waistband instead of following officers’ order to surrender.
Hayes was the first African-American to be fatally shot by Portland police since 2010, when two men were killed in separate incidents. The shootings helped prompt a Justice Department investigation that found Portland police too often use excessive force against the mentally ill.
The death of Hayes led protesters to repeatedly disrupt Portland City Council meetings during the weeks-long investigation.
Police confronted Hayes after he allegedly used a replica gun to rob a homeless man of his state food benefits card. The man had been sleeping in a car outside a Northeast Portland motel.
Hayes was also a suspect in a reported car prowl shortly after the robbery.
Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said officers found Hayes crouching in the alcove of a home. Hearst shot Hayes twice in the chest and once in the head.
The replica gun was found next to Hayes after the shooting as well as the food benefits card, Simpson said. Toxicology results showed numerous drugs in Hayes’ blood including cocaine, benzodiazepine and hydrocodone.
Venus Hayes was joined Wednesday by supporters from the local activist group Don’t Shoot Portland. She said none of the accusations against her son were sufficient grounds for his “execution.”
“They (initially) told us there were three officers on the scene; there was in fact five officers on the scene,” Hayes said. “None of the officers felt the need to use deadly force, only Officer Hearst.”
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said it will release a transcript of the grand jury hearing when it becomes available.
