A coroner’s inquest into the death of a man shot and killed by a Danville police officer in March 2021 found unanimously that Tyrell Wilson’s death came “at the hands of another person other than by accident.”
Friday’s unanimous decision by a jury hearing witness testimony on the lethal confrontation between Wilson, 32, and currently incarcerated Deputy Andrew Hall surprised few, if any, in the room. Jurors saw the shooting unfold via dashcam video taken that day by an off-duty San Francisco police officer.
Wilson died after Hall shot him in the face as Hall advanced, a small folding knife in his hand. The officer had responded to reports of a man throwing rocks from the Sycamore Valley overpass onto Interstate Highway 680 and confronted Wilson in the intersection east of the overpass after he tried to walk away.
Family members subsequently said Wilson, who was believed to have been sleeping in the area where he was killed, was mentally ill.
Jurors heard testimony from the members of the county’s Sheriff and District Attorney’s Office, as well as the off-duty San Francisco officer. They chose from one of four possible explanations for a death – that it was an accident, suicide, natural causes, or as they chose Friday, at the hands of another person other than by accident.
Wilson was the second person to have been shot and killed by Hall while on duty. The deputy was convicted of assault with a firearm and sentenced in March for the 2018 fatal shooting of Laudemer Arboleda.
Contra Costa County has paid a total of $9.4 million in settlement money to Wilson’s and Arboleda’s families, even though Wilson’s killing is still under investigation.
A forensic pathologist who testified at Friday’s hearing said marijuana was the only drug found in Wilson’s system.
Yes, it is sad that this man had to lose his life and maybe he didn’t have to be shot, but he also didn’t have to pull out a knife and challenge a police officer. Never a good idea.
The finding seems uncontroversial. I don’t understand why there had to be an inquest, jury deliberation, in this. Is that normal? Did the coroner previouslyfind otherwise so that it had to be contested? Or is this the normal process?