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Stars including, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Charlize Theron, are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the 2010 death of Danroy “DJ” Henry Jr., a 20-year-old Black college football player who was fatally shot by a white police officer in New York.
The celebs recently sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, stating that the late Easton, Mass., resident “lost his life for no good reason and with absolutely no good explanation.”
In the letter, the stars stated that the case is still an "unhealed wound” for both Henry’s family and the people of New York, adding that the facts of the case “reek of local conflict of interest, racial bias and even false testimony.”
“The DOJ must truthfully determine whether a pattern and/or practice of discrimination played a role in the case of DJ Henry — and if it did — deliver the justice that restores this young man’s name and reputation, while giving hope to other young black men who are just like him and desperate for change," they wrote.
The celebs recently sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr, stating that the late Easton, Mass., resident 'lost his life for no good reason and with absolutely no good explanation.' (AP/Getty/AP)
Along with Rihanna, 32, Jay-Z, 50, and Theron, 44, celebs like Pharrell Williams, Taraji P. Henson, Odell Beckham Jr., Michael K. Williams, Kerry Washington, Mary J. Blige and Gabrielle Union, have all signed the letter.
In 2015, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York announced that they would not bring civil rights charges, saying a thorough review of evidence did not show that Pleasantville officer Aaron Hess acted with deliberate and specific intent to break the law. Hess was previously cleared by a grand jury.
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In October 2010, Hess shot Henry as Henry drove through a parking lot, away from a disturbance that spilled out of a bar in Mount Pleasant, a New York City suburb.
Hess has said Henry was trying to run him down and that he fired through the windshield to stop the driver.
FILE - In this April 21, 2011, file photo, Thulani DeMarsay, right, aunt of Danroy 'DJ' Henry Jr., who was shot and killed by a police officer, speaks as Henry's uncle Jamele Dozier, left, holds a photograph of Henry during a news conference in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
The Henrys have said Hess jumped front of the car, got onto the hood and shot their son for no good reason. Another officer, Ronald Beckley, shot at Hess, later saying he did so because he believed Hess was “the aggressor.”
Prosecutors said Henry's car struck the officer and injured him before Hess fired his weapon as he made “a split decision under conditions of extreme danger, conditions under which the law generally allows latitude to a police officer’s judgment.”
In 2016, the Henrys reached a $6 million settlement.
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Henry's father said new information, which has come out since the case was closed, warrants a reexamination of his son's death.
“As human beings we should all want a standard of justice that is fair and right,” Danroy Henry Sr. told The Boston Globe. “And it just wasn’t in the case of our son’s murder. . . . We should just get an honest, transparent review of the facts. That’s all we’re asking.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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