Family of man killed in 2017 Durham officer-involved shooting seeks answers

Around 1 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2017, Trooper Jerimy Mathis, a 20-year member of the State Highway Patrol, attempted to stop a 1996 Nissan sedan that was driving erratically on U.S. Highway 501 near Duke Street.

Officials said the driver, 31-year-old Willard Eugene Scott Jr., failed to stop when Mathis turned on his sirens and blue lights.

After a brief pursuit, Scott exited his vehicle and began to run on foot. During the chase, Mathis fired his gun and struck Scott. Scott was transported to Duke Regional Hospital, where he later died.

Thomasine Hinson, Scott's mother, says the family has been grieving, left without answers for months.

The Durham NAACP has worked closely with Scott's family since the shooting, and the association's president does not understand why the family has had to wait so long.

"I feel deeply, both from an emotional point of view and a legal point of view, that Willard Scott's family has not been treated well," Roland Staton told WRAL News.

An autopsy report, which took five months to get, revealed Scott died from two gunshot wounds, both in his back side, prompting questions from Scott’s family about what happened.

The autopsy also showed Scott had a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, which is just over the level at which drivers are considered impaired under state law.

Family members say the only reason they have seen the dash cam video is because WRAL News argued successfully in court for its release.

In the video, Mathis can be seen wearing plain clothes and sitting in the passenger’s seat while a trooper-in-training, Dedrick Anders, is behind the wheel of the patrol car.

“Put your siren on. Leave it on,” Mathis can be heard telling Anders.

The pair notice a car that appears to be weaving in its lane. With their lights and sirens on, video shows Scott refusing to stop.

“[He’s going] 84 miles per hour. He’s brake checking us,” Mathis says.

At one point, Scott opens his car door, and about a 90 seconds into the chase, with the car still moving, he jumps out and takes off running, out of view of the camera.

“Get on him, get on him,” Mathis says as the troopers get out of the car.

One of the troopers can be heard telling Scott to put his hands up and get down on the ground. Seconds later, two gunshots can be heard.

“He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun. Get down on the ground,” one trooper says before the sound of gunfire. “Get on the ground. Don’t move. Don’t move. Don’t move.”

Staton said he fears the district attorney is waiting to release a decision because he is up for re-election. But District Attorney Roger Echols said he is waiting for additional information and is actively working on the case.

"A decision will be made as soon as I get and can get through the information," he said.

Echols said he is hopeful that will be sooner, rather than later.