Family and supporters of both men shot and killed 2-1/2 years apart by the same sheriff's deputy in Danville, who was recently sentenced to prison for the first death, gathered Friday near the location of the second shooting to mark its one-year anniversary and call for a permanent memorial to both victims.
Led by local organizers and the father of Tyrell Wilson, approximately 30 demonstrators gathered at Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Ramon starting at 4:30 p.m. on March 11, one year after Wilson was shot by now-former Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy Andrew Hall. Wilson, 33, died at the hospital six days later.
"I felt like my brother killed my son, at first," Tyrell's father Marvin Wilson, a retired Orange County sheriff's deputy of more than 30 years, said on the first anniversary of his son's shooting.
Hall, a deputy assigned to the Danville Police Department under the town's contract with the county, was back on patrol on March 11, 2021 after having been previously cleared by Sheriff David Livingston of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Laudemer Arboleda in Danville in 2018.
But District Attorney Diana Becton would go on to charge Hall in connection with Arboleda's death just over a month after the deputy shot Tyrell Wilson. A jury convicted Hall of felony assault with a firearm and he was recently sentenced to six years in prison.
Families of both Arboleda and Tyrell Wilson reached settlements with the county in their separate lawsuits of their loved ones' death, with Arboleda's family agreeing to $4.9 million last October and Wilson's family receiving $4.5 million last week.
However, families, activists and a number of local community members are continuing to push for increased awareness and solutions surrounding mental health issues, which both Tyrell Wilson and Arboleda suffered from, that don't depend on police responses that many believe can escalate and turn unnecessarily deadly.
The families of both men and their attorney are also calling for additional charges to be brought against Hall by DA Becton in connection with Tyrell Wilson's death. Prosecutors' investigation remains ongoing.
Marvin Wilson said that he watched footage of his son being shot one year ago that day repeatedly, trying to make sense of what happened, but that he couldn't understand Hall's actions in response to what he said was clearly a mental health episode from his son.
"He saw Hall as a threat, not as a police officer," Marvin Wilson said. "That's what they fail to understand. You could tell by his voice."
Marvin Wilson said that while he didn't believe Hall's actions were reflective of other officers in Danville, or their training, Hall had hurt the reputation of police officers everywhere, particularly locally.
"I wore a badge also," Marvin Wilson said. "You tarnished the badge. You tarnished good officers, good deputies, reputation, and in the (town) of Danville. Do I think Danville has good officers? Yes I do. But he tarnished that. He put a stain on that."
Marvin Wilson said that his son had been a star athlete as a teenager, who was eyed by Division I sports programs for his baseball prowess, and on the path to his choice of a number of scholarships from prestigious colleges. Despite the certainty of a sports scholarship, the teenage Tyrell Wilson was pushed to get good grades by his dad, proudly showing off a 3.5 GPA one night as he asked for permission to go on a nighttime snowboarding trip with his close friend.
The trip would end fatally for Tyrell Wilson's companion, and resulted in a traumatic brain injury for him. Marvin Wilson recalled between the death of his friend, and the slow burn of personality changes and mental issues that can result from brain injuries, Tyrell Wilson stopped being a carefree teenager, and started to change. In particular, his father said that Tyrell never got over the death of his friend, who was memorialized on a recent tattoo Marvin Wilson found on his son's chest upon coming to visit him at John Muir Medical Center in critical condition after last year's shooting.
Marvin Wilson said that his son's homelessness at the time of his death was the result of choice, not lack of funds, with the family being relatively well-off.
"He was staying with his uncle in Pittsburg, and he just left, and you just have to let him go through his cycle until he calms down and then he'll come back. But he never was a violent person," Marvin Wilson said of his son.
Sheriff Livingston and his office have argued otherwise, saying Hall was responding on March 11, 2021 to a report someone matching Tyrell Wilson's description was throwing rocks from the Interstate 680 overpass onto the freeway.
When Hall contacts Tyrell Wilson, the man first backs away and then pulls out a folding knife, according to video of the encounter released by the sheriff's office. Tyrell Wilson keeps the knife in his hand, but doesn't point it toward the deputy, as he takes two swaying steps forward and appears to say "kill me". In that second, Hall fires a lone shot at Tyrell Wilson's head and the man collapses to the ground.
John Burris, a prominent civil rights attorney representing both the Wilson and Arboleda families, said that Hall's recent sentencing in Arboleda's death, and the county's settlement with Wilson's parents, were small prices to pay, particularly for the deaths of two vulnerable people with mental health issues.
"To me the punishment did not fit the crimes he committed," Burris said, of Hall's six-year sentence.
Burris, who has built his career as a civil rights lawyer through a number of high-profile cases involving police brutality, said that cases like Hall's, in which the same officer shoots and kills two people in separate incidents, have been uncommon in recent years.
"We don't have many ... cases in recent memory, where an officer was involved in more than one shooting," Burris said.
Although no stranger to grizzly and often tragic circumstances in the cases he works on, Burris said that he was shocked to hear about news of Wilson's death in 2021.
"It was shocking, disappointing, an outrage, that this man killed a second time and he hadn't been punished properly the first time. So it was like a dagger ripping my own heart," Burris said.
Having already been involved in the litigation against Hall from Arboleda's family, Burris said that he was all the more frustrated, arguing that Tyrell Wilson's death could have been prevented if Hall hadn't still been on the streets of Danville.
"If they had punished the man properly, assigned him, reassigned him, fired him, then Mr. Wilson would not be dead," Burris said.
Of the settlement, Burris said that rather than being a victory, it was an acknowledgment of what had happened in Tyrell Wilson's death, and that it shouldn't have.
Marvin Wilson said that the settlement was no replacement for his only son, but that he was glad to have the case out of the way so that he could be more vocal about calls for additional charges against Hall by the DA's Office.
"A settlement is not going to silence me and it's not going to make me disappear," Marvin Wilson said. "I'm here for justice for my son."
Comments
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:12 am
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:12 am
Any death is sad. I cannot image losing a child. I recall some reporting of both incidents but what were the specifics of the police being summoned and the events leading up to the shootings.
I recall some of the reporting at that time but I would appreciate a fuller picture to better understand the what, how and why. Thanks.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:30 am
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:30 am
The what, how and why? Any loss of life is sad, but it's sad that police are put in a position to deal with mentally ill people who are uncooperative. To the point of making a split second decision that leads to loss of life, millions of dollars to the taxpayers and a prison sentence for the officer. Are we supposed to let them throw rocks and pull a knife on a police officer with no consequences? Police are trained to stop a threat.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 15, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2022 at 1:17 pm
Jennifer, I agree with most of what you're wrote, with the exception of it "being sad that police are put in the position of dealing with mentally ill people." The police are supposed to be trained to deal with these situations. The problem here was that a man unsuited to be a police officer was given a badge and a gun by our sheriff. The needless killing of Mr. Arboleda was the point at which Hall should have been permanently removed from the Danville PD, at the minimum. Instead, evidently the Sheriff's Office decided to "whitewash" what was done, setting the stage for the death of Mr. Wilson. And it would seem that it all comes down to the Sheriff's Department's "use of force training." To think that either of the dead men actually presented a serious threat to Hall is specious on its face. Hall had the idea he was a hammer, and everything he came upon looked like a nail to him. The idea that Hall may well be back on the street having served only half his sentence shows you just how our justice system is failing. If a "ordinary citizen" shot two people under similar circumstances, he or she would be facing life in prison. So, I hope the DA actually prosecutes Hall for Wilson's death, and if found guilty, has substantial time added to his current sentence.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 15, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2022 at 2:48 pm
The only people properly trained to deal with the mentally ill (IMO) are psychiatrists. The police are properly trained to deal with the criminal element. They can give police officers all the "training" they want dealing with the mentally ill but they're not mental health professionals. To deal effectively with mentally ill you have to have a calming effect. The police are anything but. I'm supportive of LE in general, but when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill the police are failing.
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 15, 2022 at 11:04 pm
Registered user
on Mar 15, 2022 at 11:04 pm
If anyone has any doubt about how dangerous a person knife-welding can be, watch this video.
Body cam video shows first-person view of Georgia
officer’s attack by knife-welding man.
Watch how fast the suspect closes in on the officer AFTER being shot.
Web Link
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 16, 2022 at 9:51 am
Registered user
on Mar 16, 2022 at 9:51 am
@Jennifer
By your logic, A person suffering from a mental health condition who is combative, brandishes a firearm, knife, baseball bat, etc., should only be dealt with by a psychiatrist. Really? And what training does a psychiatrist have should the situation call for lethal force? None.
People with mental health disorders, or any other type of condition who exhibit violent behavior, need to be met with force, not kind words. And unfortunately, that force, depending on the situation, often times leads to lethal force.
Your lack of experience and knowledge in this area is telling, to say the least. But I challenge you to do this: visit the acute psychiatric unit on the 8th floor at the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose. Talk to the deputies and mental health professionals who work there. Believe me, what you think you know, you don’t.
One last thing… Calm words don’t always work with people who have severe mental health disorders. In fact, calm words can have the opposite effect.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 17, 2022 at 8:09 am
Registered user
on Mar 17, 2022 at 8:09 am
I never said police shouldn't get involved. I said they're not properly trained, and they never will be. LE officers that I know admit that they're failing the mentally ill. Because they are. To the point of death, millions of dollars to taxpayers and prison sentences for an officer. Wake up.
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 17, 2022 at 4:32 pm
Registered user
on Mar 17, 2022 at 4:32 pm
@Jennifer
Most police / sheriff departments have trained hostage negotiators should the situation call for one.
What I find interesting in your rant above is that you put the onus on the police for failing the mentally ill. In what way?
The blame game is easy when you haven't been exposed to the truth.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 18, 2022 at 9:01 am
Registered user
on Mar 18, 2022 at 9:01 am
A death occurred, Hall was fired, sent to prison and taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars. Those weren't my decisions. That's reality and the truth. You blindly support the police, and it's ignorant to blindly support anyone.
And how the police fail the mentally ill? You have to deescalate the situation.
You're the one who is ranting. You do it all the time with anyone who disagrees with you.
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 20, 2022 at 12:16 pm
Registered user
on Mar 20, 2022 at 12:16 pm
@ Jennifer - said:
"And how the police fail the mentally ill? You have to deescalate the situation."
That's exactly what the officer attempted to do until the suspect pulled out a knife in a threatening manner. No one failed anyone. Stop blaming law enforcement for a job you can't do.
Better yet, what's your solution? Put a mental health worker in the officer's position without any way of defending his/her self? If that's the case, then the mental health worker would be doing the job of cop.
Pick your poison.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 20, 2022 at 2:21 pm
Registered user
on Mar 20, 2022 at 2:21 pm
It's not "my solution" but there are agencies that are sending mental health workers to accompany LE dealing with the mentally ill, including the city I grew up in. I remember reading an article where a chief of police in Florida admitted failing the mentally ill. He went on to say "we're not social workers."
Pick your poison is correct.
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 21, 2022 at 5:29 pm
Registered user
on Mar 21, 2022 at 5:29 pm
You still have not answered the obvious question: how is law enforcement failing dangerous people with mental health conditions?
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 22, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Registered user
on Mar 22, 2022 at 2:38 pm
BY KILLING THEM.
Registered user
Danville
on Mar 22, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Registered user
on Mar 22, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Malcolm clearly is not a police officer or a trained professional that understands how to deal with a mentally ill person. We spend millions of dollars year training police and other first responders on how to deal with people who are mentally ill and most police officers handle it correctly. Clearly Ex Officer Hall did not and since this was his second time killing someone maybe we had two mentally ill people in this situation. One with a gun who has the propensity to kill people and one with a knife who we have no clue what he would have done if someone didn’t come after him with a gun. As a trained professional I saw a guy who could have easily been calmed down or disarmed without killing him Ex Officer Hall seemed to be of the shoot first ask questions later school of thought (if he had a thought ) and I for one don’t pay taxes to keep people like that on the street He deserves what he got for the killing in 2018 and will deserve what he got for the killing of Tyrell Wilson
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 23, 2022 at 9:34 am
Registered user
on Mar 23, 2022 at 9:34 am
Today’s Quiz…
A person with a mental health condition attempts to commit a violent act upon you. Who would you call?
A. A Psychiatrist
B. A Police Officer
Registered user
San Ramon
on Mar 23, 2022 at 4:37 pm
Registered user
on Mar 23, 2022 at 4:37 pm
You are a trained professional? In What?