10 wounds found on boy killed by police
Private pathologist hired for autopsy
Senta Scarborough
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 2, 2003 12:00 AM
Police shot a Mesa teenager 10 times as he held a knife and threatened suicide at his parents' home last week, the family's attorney said Monday.
Edward Fitzhugh, attorney for the family of Mario Albert Madrigal Jr., said Valley pathologist Dr. Richard Trepeta was hired to perform an independent autopsy on the 15-year-old.
The results showed 10 gunshot wounds, Fitzhugh said, most in the upper body with one grazing his arm. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office has not released its autopsy results.
Bill FitzGerald of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said he would not comment until the investigation is done.
Madrigal was killed Aug. 25 after his parents called police for help with the teenager, who had grabbed a kitchen knife and was threatening suicide. Police and family members dispute whether the boy was approaching police with a knife when three officers opened fire.
Kelvin Smith, president of the Mesa Police Association, said, "I don't think it is unusual for an officer to fire three or four rounds depending on the circumstances."
Smith would not talk specifically about this shooting. But he said, "The number of rounds fired doesn't explain what happened."
He added most Valley law enforcement officers carry semiautomatic weapons, which fire rounds more quickly than revolvers. It is unknown what type of guns the officers used in the shooting.
Smith said it is important that a complete investigation be performed by Mesa police, the County Attorney's Office and the medical examiner.
"Unfortunately that may take a little longer than some people would like," Smith said. "People need to be patient for them to do their job."
Fitzhugh said the big question is: "How could these officers not handle a situation like that with a 5-foot-5, 115-pound boy any better?"
He said that when officers arrived, Madrigal's mother was talking to him, calming him. The officers were outside the house and Madrigal and his mother were inside, he said.
"In Rambo-style, these officers escalated the situation. One of the officers pulled Mario's mother away from him, and right after that the shooting began," Fitzhugh said. "They arrived in a situation where a mother is talking to her son. Even in the most extreme situation, she wasn't in danger."
Fitzhugh said he believes police shot 15 times because 15 shell casings were found, according to a warrant property list.
Fitzhugh also said it is inappropriate for police and the County Attorney's Office to be selective about what information is released in the case, asking why the 911 tape, which is believed to have recorded most of the incident, has not been made available.
But Mesa City Councilman Rex Griswold said he is willing to be patient. "I have a great deal of faith in (County Attorney) Rick Romley and his ability to get to the truth," said Griswold, chairman of Mesa's Police Committee. "He has demonstrated this process many times in the past."
On Friday, the three members of the Madrigal family, including Mario's 10-year-old brother, were interviewed by the FBI as part of the agency's preliminary investigation into possible civil rights violations by the three officers.
"We are very happy that the FBI has been involved at this early stage and will conduct their own investigation," Fitzhugh said.
The parents still want the officers involved in the shooting to undergo blood testing while it is timely, but Mesa police have refused.
The family will hire its own experts to review the evidence from the scene once Mesa releases the results of its investigation, Fitzhugh said.
"They saw no need for what happened to their son," Fitzhugh said, "and they are still asking for a rational, reasonable explanation of why these officers did what they did."
Reach the reporter at
[email protected] or (602) 444-7937.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0902madrigal02.html