Police Sergeant Gives Dramatic Account of Shooting Mentally Ill Woman in Bronx

A police sergeant who shot and killed a 66-year-old mentally ill woman testified at his own murder trial Tuesday. For more than two hours, Sgt. Hugh Barry gave a detailed account of an incident that started out as a routine police call and ended with Deborah Danner dead inside her Bronx apartment five minutes later. 

Barry, who graduated from the police academy in 2008 and was promoted to Sergeant in 2014, took the stand in a suit and tie. He spoke in a low, calm voice and at one point got up from the witness stand, removed his jacket, and crouched in a batter's stance to demonstrate for Judge Robert Neary how Deborah Danner threatened him with a bat. Instead of a jury, Barry opted for a bench trial. 

Danner suffered from schizophrenia and police had been to her apartment many times before. But Barry testified he wasn't familiar with her, though he said that over his career he had responded to hundreds of similar calls involving someone considered emotionally disturbed.  

According to his account, Danner was sitting on her bed aggressively cutting paper  when he first approached her. He said he used a low, soft tone to gain her trust and repeatedly told her that the police were there to help. She wanted to speak to an EMT and he told her that wasn't possible because he considered the scissors she was holding to be a threat.

At one point, Barry said Danner raised the scissors, cursed and said she wasn't leaving her bedroom. After two to three minutes, Barry said he convinced Danner to drop the scissors and come out of her room. But earlier in the trial, an Emergency Medical Technician testified that by the time Barry arrived, one of the four officers  on the scene had already convinced Danner to drop the scissors. The EMT also testified that she had been speaking to Danner when Barry arrived. Barry said he didn't remember that. 

With Danner unarmed and outside her bedroom, Barry said he tried to grab the woman by the arm. But "she was of a hell out of a lot faster than she came off," he said.  And so he chased her back into the bedroom, where she sat on the edge of her bad and grabbed a bat. Other officers followed him inside the bedroom. He said he pointed his gun at Danner and pleaded with her to put the bat down. Barry said he thought she would crack his head with the bat. 

When asked why he didn't back out of the room, Barry said that since other officers were directly behind him, he felt like his back was up against a wall. When asked why he didn't use a taser, Barry said at first he didn't use it because he wanted to talk Danner down and avoid using force. Once she had a bat, he said using a taser would have been inappropriate, because at that point, she could have killed him. 

For a murder charge to stick, prosecutors must prove intent. Barry testified that when he shot Danner he didn't intend to kill or injure her. He said, "I just wanted her to stop swinging." 

Barry also faces manslaughter and criminally-negligent homicide charges.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that Barry acted recklessly and didn't follow procedures. Assistant District Attorney Wanda Perez-Maldonado asked him whether he brought a protective shield or restraining straps to Danner's apartment. He answered no.

She also questioned why he didn't stop at the doorway instead of chasing her into the bedroom to slow the altercation down, as he had been trained to do. Barry said he feared she would use the scissors in the bedroom to hurt herself or or one of the other officers. 

Finally, Perez-Maldonado asked whether Danner ever completed a swing of the bat. "A completed swing would've hit me so, no," Barry responded. 

Closing arguments in the case are expected tomorrow afternoon.