Author continues search for answers in son's death

11:45 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
By CHRIS HAWES / WFAA-TV

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - More than nine years after her son's controversial shooting at the hands of an officer, Barbara Davis says she wants an ending.

For a time, Davis an author said she lost her reputation in addition to her son. However, the true-crime author never quit pushing for answers. And a judge's recent ruling may mean Davis' story may be nearing its final chapter.

It could be argued that Troy Davis is dead because of an e-mail an estranged relative sent to the North Richland Hills Police Department on December 3, 1999. It claimed Davis and her son were "growing pot and selling drugs."

"They wanted to go out and make a big bust," Davis said.

The North Richland Hills SWAT team got a search warrant and stormed the Davis' home. Within a few seconds of entering, Officer Allen Hill shot Troy Davis.

As her son lay bleeding, Barbara Davis was cuffed and taken from her home. It wasn't until she arrived at the jail that she learned what had happened to her son. A jail camera captured her reaction as she received the news.

"No, no, no, no," she said. "That's my child. That's my child."

Officers say Troy Davis pulled a gun on the SWAT team.

While police found no marijuana inside the home, the district attorney prosecuted Barbara Davis for having the drug GHB, which had recently become illegal. She said she used it as a sleep aid.

"Every day there was something in the paper [and] on the news to smear me just a little bit further," she said.

Officer Hill resigned five months after the shooting, citing internal pressure. An appeals court threw out the possession charge against Davis, who filed a federal lawsuit. Davis said she just wants the truth.

As part of the case, her attorney submitted crime scene photographs he said support his belief that Troy Davis was unarmed. He said he believes police planted a gun near his body.

To this day, the city maintains Hill did nothing wrong and continues to pay his legal bills.

But this month, a judge ruled the civil case against the former officer will move forward and a trial date is set soon.

"I know my son's at peace, but I am not," Davis said.

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