Huntsville Lieutenant Under Investigation For Promoting Fundraiser For Convicted Officer

Huntsville, AL – The Huntsville Police Department’s training director is under investigation after she sent out a department-wide email with a fundraiser for former Huntsville Police Officer William “Ben” Darby, who was recently convicted of the murder of a suicidal man.

“If any of you are interested in getting a shirt to help support Darby’s plight, please fill out the below information and email it back to me…,” Huntsville Police Lieutenant Tesla Hughes wrote in an email she sent to all 700 employees of the police department, AL.com reported.

Lt. Hughes explained in the email how employees could purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, and pullovers to raise money for Darby, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in August.

The lieutenant included an attachment from The Blue Justice Project, the ground running the fundraise, that said Darby had been convicted after an “unethical and malicious prosecution,” AL.com reported.

It also said that Darby had received an “excessive” sentence.

The Blue Justice Project is run by a former Pennsylvania police officer who was exonerated after she fatally shot an unarmed man who fled a traffic stop in 2015, AL.com reported.

Less than an hour after Lt. Hughes’ email went out, the police department cracked down.

Huntsville Police Captain Jonathan Ware, the head of the department’s internal affairs division, sent out an email that told members of the police department to “please refrain from further solicitation,” AL.com reported.

Capt. Ware’s email also said employees could not use police department time and resources – including city computers and email accounts – to help raise money for their former colleague.

Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray put out a statement on Tuesday that said Lt. Hughes’ email about the fundraiser for Darby was “unauthorized” and violated city policy.

Chief McMurray said internal affairs was investigating the email and would respond accordingly, AL.com reported.

“There is no organized effort within the police department to fundraise or otherwise for William Darby,” the police chief said. “The attachment within the email and the information presented on it are not affiliated with the Huntsville Police Department.”

“HPD will not condone any inappropriate use of City property, time, or resources,” he added.

Darby officer was sentenced to 25 years in prison even though his agency determined that the shooting was justified.

The shooting occurred on the afternoon of April 3, 2018 after Jeffrey Parker called 911 and told the dispatcher he was suicidal and had a gun, AL.com reported.

Officers responded to Parker’s home and when they arrived, found him sitting on his sofa holding a gun to his own head.

Huntsville Police Officer Genisha Pegues went into the house ahead of Officer Darby and began trying to talk Parker down, WHNT reported.

Bodycam video showed that when Officer Darby arrived, he grabbed his shotgun from his patrol vehicle and sprinted into the house to assist.

Less than a minute after Officer Darby entered the home, he fatally shot Parker, the video showed.

The Huntsville Police Department’s shooting review board investigated and determined the shooting was justified in May of 2018, WHNT reported.

The review board found that “all officers involved performed within Huntsville Police policies, procedures and training.”

But despite those findings, the Madison County District Attorney’s Office took the case before a grand jury and got an indictment against Officer Darby on murder charges, WHNT reported.

The Huntsville City Council stood behind Officer Darby and voted to fund his legal defense, totally more than $125,000, WHNT reported.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said the shooting was within police department policy and he disagreed with the district attorney’s decision to go after Officer Darby, AL.com reported.

The trial was postponed multiple times because of the pandemic and finally began on May 3, more than three years after the incident occurred and exactly 13 days after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in a highly-publicized trial.

Officer Pegues testified against Officer Darby and said that she had been in the process of de-escalating the situation before he opened fire, AL.com reported.

Officer Darby testified that he shot Parker in self-defense and in defense of the other officers in the room.

He said he had to take over the situation because Officer Pegues was putting herself in danger, AL.com reported.

Bodycam video showed Officer Darby walked up to the house and shouted for Officer Pegues to “point your f–king gun at him.”

Then Officer Darby repeatedly ordered Parker to drop his gun, the video showed.

Bodycam showed Officer Darby fired the fatal shot 11 seconds after he entered the home, AL.com reported.

Use-of-force experts, police tactics trainers, and Huntsville police officials testified that Officer Darby used appropriate force for the situation and stayed within department policy, WHNT reported.

But after a four-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict after just two hours.

“While I respect the jury’s opinion, I disagree with the verdict,” the mayor said after it was announced, AL.com reported.

“We recognize this was a hard case with a lot of technical information to process,” Battle said. “Officer Darby followed the appropriate safety protocols in his response on the scene. He was doing what he was trained to do in the line of duty. Fortunately, Officer Darby has the same appeal rights as any other citizen and is entitled to exercise those rights.”

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard disagreed strongly with the mayor and said the evidence “was off the charts. He was not justified in any way,” AL.com reported.

Broussard also said he didn’t think the verdict was a reflection on local law enforcement.

“We have as good of law enforcement as any community could ever hope to have,” he said.

Broussard said Parker showed “zero hostility or aggression” during the encounter, AL.com.

And he called Officer Pegues an example of what a citizen would hope for from police.

“She was trying to help this man,” the district attorney said.

“[Officer Darby] had maybe no business being a police officer, truthfully. He was not wired for it… pretty clear,” Broussard added, according to AL.com.

Defense attorney Robert Tuten said he looked forward to appealing Officer Darby’s case and said the verdict “won’t stand.”

“Everyone is shocked by the jury’s verdict,” Tuten said in a statement.