Durham police officer suspended over Jesus Huerta's suicide
DURHAM (WTVD) -- The Durham police officer who searched Jesus Huerta before investigators say the teen committed suicide in the back of a squad car last year has been disciplined in the case.
Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez said in a report released Monday that Officer Samuel Duncan received a suspension of 40 hours without pay for failing to find the gun.
The Durham County prosecutor's office said last month that it has finished reviewing the case and no criminal charges will be filed against the officers involved in the Huerta case.
While investigators say the 17-year-old was searched after he was arrested Nov. 19 on a second-degree trespassing charge, they say he apparently had a .45 caliber pistol hidden somewhere on his person that the arresting officer did not find.
As the teen was being taken to police headquarters, a shot rang out from the back of the police car, and Huerta was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators have called the death a suicide.
The controversial case has led to multiple protests in Durham that have ended with violence and arrests.
In a statement Monday, attorney Alexander Charns, who represents the Huerta family, said it continues its own investigation of the case.
Charns said in addition to thoroughly searching the teen, Huerta should have been taken to an emergency room before being arrested for high levels of drugs in his system.
"... levels so high Jesus may have been hallucinating and were potentially lethal," said Charns," in part.
Charns said the family continues to request the city allow it to place a permanent memorial near the site of the teens death adjacent to the DPD parking lot.
