…continued from the previous post.
Evans arrived just after two other officers. As they approached the duplex, Violet burst out of the front door, holding her son. She screamed “take him” as she thrust the boy into Evans’ arms and then said “I shot the little bastard.”
The boy was wearing only a pair of worn blue shorts. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful, but he made a gurgling sound as he gasped for breath. Evans noticed that a dark red spot just beneath the breastbone would be about right for a .22 caliber entry wound. (The autopsy found a lacerated aorta.) As the boy stopped breathing, Evans sank onto the porch steps.
Overwhelmed by his helplessness, a deep emotional pain came over Evans as he laid the body on the lawn and covered it with a blanket. There were tears behind his sunglasses when he called the dispatcher to report the homicide.
Curious onlookers gathered. When one of them moved to look under the blanket, Evans pulled his nightstick and ordered him back. Later, the sergeant came over, giving him the details learned from Violet and her neighbors. Both men were fathers and they struggled to make sense of what was in front of them.
To be continued.
Tags: PTSD
