SC mental health agency didn’t act in distress call days before deputy shot man, group says
A man who was fatally shot by a Richland County deputy had reached out to state mental health workers for help four days before he was killed, according to a Black community group who has been working with the man’s family.
In a statement, the South Carolina Black Activist Coalition said that 34-year-old Irvin Moorer Charley, who was shot by the deputy Saturday, contacted the state’s Department of Mental Health on March 15.
The activist group has been speaking with the Moorer Charley’s family, it said.
“He stated he was in a crisis and felt like he was going to hurt someone,” the coalition said in the statement.
The coalition said it got the information about the call to the mental health department “in open communication regarding the case with Sheriff Leon Lott.”
“What hurts and haunts us is had the (mental health department) responded to his plea maybe we wouldn’t be where we are now,” the coalition said. “Who decides who gets help and who doesn’t?”
The Department of Mental Health said that because of state and federal privacy laws, the department “cannot discuss whether a specific individual is/isn’t receiving or has/hasn’t received care from the agency.”
The department said that its crisis responders are available around the clock, every day of the year.
The Black Activist Coalition also says that body camera footage shows that Richland County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Zachary Hentz, who shot Moorer Charley, escalated a situation that another deputy was quelling.
Family called police about Moorer Charley at about 6 p.m. Saturday. He was wielding a weapon that had been described as a knife, but was discovered to be a pointed wooden object about 15 inches long, according to police.
The first deputy who arrived knew Moorer Charley by name, the coalition said. That deputy was trying to “deescalate the situation,” the coalition said. Hentz arrived and was “much more aggressive” and “irrational,” the activist group said.
Hentz didn’t talk to the first officer before trying to shoot his stun gun at Moorer Charley, according to the activist group. When that didn’t work, the group said, Hentz fired seven times with his service pistol, hitting Moorer Charley four times.
“There are clear discrepancies on how law enforcement treat people of color in these types of situations,” the coalition said.
Sheriff Leon Lott has said the officer was defending himself when Moorer Charley came toward him with a wooden “stake.” The 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office found in a preliminary look into the shooting that there was no wrongdoing by Hentz, Lott said. But the solicitor’s office is still reviewing all the evidence in the case.
The activist coalition is demanding the immediate firing of the deputies involved at the shooting. It also said it demands actions be taken against the state’s mental health department. It is calling for the state of South Carolina to allocate more money to mental health treatment.
Last budget year, the Department of Mental Health was allocated almost $285 million by the state. The department is set to get about $35.9 million more this coming budget year.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 3:26 PM.