By David Hedges, Publisher
www.thetimesrecord.net
A Roane grand jury considered charges against a W.Va. State Police trooper who shot a teenage boy near Walton last year and found no evidence he committed a crime.
Roane prosecutor Josh Downey said jurors opted not to indict Lee Price, also known as Trooper J.J. Price, for any wrongdoing.
"They found the officer's actions were proper in this situation," Downey said Thursday, one day after the jury finished a two-day session that resulted in 27 indictments.
He said the case involving Price was the only one that failed to result in an indictment, or a "no true bill."
The grandmother of the shooting victim, 19-year-old Stephen Krein of Clendenin, disagreed with the jury's findings.
"They're just getting one side of the story," Elizabeth Hanna said.
Downey said he presented the jury with testimony from a State Police officer who investigated the incident. He did not release the name of the officer and a reporter's effort to get the names of those who testified before the grand jury was rejected by Roane Circuit Judge Tom Evans. Grand jury sessions take place behind closed doors.
Hanna said she did not even know the case had been presented to a grand jury until a reporter contacted her.
"It seems like they would have let someone know," she said. "That doesn't seem quite right."
But Downey said he was satisfied with the way the investigation into the shooting was handled.
"The State Police do an excellent job of reviewing these matters internally," Downey said.
He said presenting the case to the grand jury allowed for another examination of the facts.
"This is just a way of having an outside review," Downey said. "From the standpoint of the actions of this officer, I consider this matter closed."
According to information released by State Police last year, Price shot Krein Dec. 1, as Krein was sitting in a truck outside Huffman's Store.
Police were looking for the youth after he allegedly led them on a chase in Kanawha County the previous week.
Price and another trooper from the South Charleston detachment, W.S. Snyder, came upon Krein outside the store at the intersection of Ambler Ridge and U.S. 119.
He was sitting behind the wheel of a Chevrolet pickup when police said he ignored their requests to exit the vehicle.
Police said he instead began moving the vehicle back and forth in an effort to escape. They said Krein's truck was headed toward one of the officers when Price fired two shots from his .45 caliber pistol. One of those struck Krein in the head, just behind his right ear.
Krein was airlifted to a Charleston hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit for several days. He was eventually transferred to a nursing facility in St. Clairsville, Ohio, but recently was moved to a nursing facility closer to home. Hanna did not want to disclose the location of the facility.
She said her grandson would turn 20 later this month.
She said he has regained sight in one eye and is able to hear. She says he has limited use of one arm. He is unable to speak but is learning sign language to communicate.
"We're grateful he's still alive, but it's going to take a lot of effort on everybody's part to bring him back a little bit," she said.
She said he is able to remember much of what happened that night.
According to Hanna, her grandson was sitting outside the store after he ran out of gas. She said he had gone inside the store a few minutes after 9 p.m. but was told the gas pumps were turned off at 9.
He was trying to call someone to help when the trooper came upon him, Hanna said.
"I don't think the trooper should have taken it upon himself to shoot a boy sitting in a truck," Hanna said. "They don't even shoot bank robbers anymore.
"In my opinion the officer was in the wrong," she said. "The boy was sitting in the truck by himself without any gas. He didn't have a gun.
"I don't know what the officer's opinion is, but I don't think he handled it very professionally," she said. "They could have shot the tires or the motor or something instead of shooting him in the side of the head."
Hanna said the incident was captured on a store security camera, but State Police took the tape and she has not seen a copy.
Hanna said she has spoken with former Kanawha prosecutor Mike Clifford about the incident, but she does not know if he has ever received a copy of the tape or what will come of the case.
Clifford did not return telephone messages but a man in his office who identified himself as Clifford's investigator said he did not know the case had been presented to a grand jury.
Whatever the outcome of the legal matters, Hanna said she is grateful to the hundreds of friends and total strangers who have prayed for her grandson's recovery.
"I think the power of prayer is what has brought him back," she said.
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