FORMER HEARNE OFFICER NO-BILLED IN 93-YEAR OLD’S DEATH
A Robertson County Grand Jury has no-billed former Hearne police officer Stephen Stem in the shooting death of 93-year-old Pearlie Golden.
Golden was shot and killed by Stem on May 6, while responded to a 911 call from Golden’s nephew. Roy Jones, Jr., says she grabbed her revolver after he refused to give Golden her car keys after her driver’s license had not been renewed.
Jones says Stem shot Golden after she fired two shots into the ground and refused to drop her weapon. But Stem told his attorney that Golden never fired any shots. Four days later, the city council voted unanimously to fire Stem.
The Texas Rangers investigated the shooting and then turned their findings over the District Attorney’s Office.
The case was originally supposed to be presented to the grand jury in August. But, the hearing was delayed.
This entire situation is sad. A crazy old women gets a gun and acts stupid, HER FAMILY calls the police, a young police officer who is doing his job responds to the scene and fears for his own safety and is forced to shot the woman. I think it is fair to say that we all understand that she is old, but does the age of the person who is waving a gun around really matter when she starts shooting. Had the officer not responded as he did, it is likely the headline would have read “93 Year Old Woman Shots Police Officer”.
The police officer is really the victim here, by doing his job and responding as he was required to do, he has lost his career and has been through who knows how much hurt and pain because someone decided to express themselves in an insane way. I am not a big fan of lawsuits, but if he goes after the City of Hearne who fired him before the investigation was even complete, they deserve any adverse verdict the jury decides to render.