
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 24, 1994                   TAG: 9408240049
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: DANVILLE                                 LENGTH: Medium

POLICEMAN NOT INDICTED IN HOMELESS MAN'S DEATH

A grand jury has declined to indict a policeman who shot and killed a mentally ill homeless man wielding a knife. But mental health advocates said Tuesday that the death could have been prevented, and the man's family is pursuing a private investigation.

``It's like leaving a little kid out on the street,'' said Jo Ann Ezell, president of the Danville area Alliance for the Mentally Ill. ``If the mental health system was doing its job, it would never have gotten to the point where it did.''

The grand jury heard 17 witnesses and deliberated for almost eight hours Monday before deciding that Danville Police Officer Scott Eanes should not be put on trial for shooting Herman Hodnett, 47.

Eanes was returned to regular patrol, Police Chief T. Neal Morris said. Eanes had been placed on leave with pay after the incident, then put on administrative assignment.

Last Sept. 22, Capt. C.I. Slayton sent Eanes, Lt. Earl Willis and Officer Larry Godsey to investigate when he heard Hodnett making loud noises outside the Municipal Building. Police said Eanes fired when Hodnett swung a knife with a 4-inch blade at him.

Morris said that at one point Eanes had to retreat from the statue in front of the building to behind the nearby bus shelter to avoid being cut by Hodnett. Eanes fired when Hodnett swung the knife within five inches of Eanes' neck, ignoring calls from the three officers to drop the knife and surrender, police said.

Betty Hodnett Campbell, Hodnett's sister, said his family is continuing its investigation of the shooting.

``We didn't expect them to do anything to [Eanes],'' Campbell said. ``We knew it wouldn't be handled fairly. That's why we have our own outside investigation going.''

``No one else is going to find anything that we didn't find,'' Morris said. ``We presented evidence to an impartial body - the grand jury. We dealt strictly with the facts. As long as you deal with the truth, that's all there is.''

Ezell said Hodnett left an adult home when it closed, was evicted from a hotel and then stopped taking his medication when he was living in the streets.

The Police Department requested assistance from the Danville Mental Health Services, but no caseworker came, Ezell said.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB