DA Faults Cops in Killing of Danielle Willard: "[She] did not back up her car directly at [the officer], never hit him and never posed a serious threat to either detective"

Salt Lake Tribune
Aug. 10, 2013

A determination that two West Valley City drug detectives were in the wrong when they shot and killed an unarmed woman came Thursday after nine long months of investigation.

Meanwhile Danielle Willard’s death set off multiple probes into the West Valley City Police Department, with a screening of possible criminal charges against officers Shaun Cowley and Kevin Salmon being the latest addition to that growing list. The city also is contending with a federal wrongful death suit filed by Willard’s family, while the officers who shot her still firmly deny any wrongdoing in their decision to open fire on the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2012.

The central question behind Willard’s death — whether it was justified under the law — has been answered, but the shockwaves around it are still being felt, and Thursday’s ruling did little to calm the rumblings.

A contentious finding

Cowley and Salmon shot Willard in the parking lot of a West Valley City apartment complex while she was in her Subaru Forester. Police said in March that the undercover drug detectives had spotted Willard purchasing heroin from a known drug house nearby and had approached the vehicle. Police said Willard then backed up her car and hit Cowley, prompting both officers to fire at her. She died at the scene after being shot in the top of her head.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, though, found that Willard did not back up her car directly at Cowley, never hit him and never posed a serious threat to either detective — findings that the officers’ attorneys still dispute. The officers also knew neither was in a harmful situation, the DA’s Office found, and had no justification for shooting six times at Willard.

Willard’s mother, Melissa Kennedy, released a short statement Thursday through the Los Angeles office of her attorney Mark Geragos saying the family "appreciated" the determination.

"The findings confirm what we have always known: Danielle was murdered," Kennedy said.

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