‘Everything in my power to bring justice.’ Family of man shot by officer speaks out
Family and friends of Paul Chavez Jr. stood in front of the yard where he was fatally shot by a Modesto police officer earlier this month.
Tuesday afternoon, they held signs and wore shirts with pictures of the 30-year old father of three and gave impassioned speeches in which they described how he lived and how he died. They also called for justice and for the officer who shot Chavez to be criminally charged.
“I can’t stop seeing what I saw,” Chavez’s wife, Brittoni Estrella, said about the evening of July 14. “My husband being Tased, shot, looking at his bullet wound, how they wouldn’t let me be by his side to hold his hand, to lift his head … because he was still gasping for his life.”
Estrella spoke during a press conference on Entrada Way that was held to announce a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of her and her sons. It coincided with the release of cell phone video of the shooting released by Estrella’s attorney and body camera video released by the Police Department.
“Every time I tried to run to him, the cops screamed, ‘Back up,’” Estrella said through tears. “I said, ‘He needs me, let me be with him.’ Instead, the cop turned and yelled and looked at me as if I was going to be next.”
Police body camera video of the incident shows that when officers Sam Muncy and Sergio Valencia encounter Chavez, he is carrying a trailer hitch and they tell him several times to put it down or he will be Tased. He is Tased by Valencia and immediately pulls out the Taser prongs as the officers continue to tell him to put down the hitch, to which he can be heard replying, “No.”
The firing of the Taser comes 15 seconds after Chavez is told to drop the hitch. The shooting, by Muncy, follows about six seconds later.
Chavez remains standing for approximately 15 seconds and takes several steps toward the house before falling into bushes.
The body camera video was released as part of a “critical incident community briefing” by Modesto police and includes a 911 audio recording of Estrella’s father, who had called for help.
He can be heard telling a 911 call taker that his son-in-law is trying to break into the house and ripping off the screen door. He asks the dispatcher if he can shoot Chavez if he enters his home. He calls back a second time and tells the call taker that Chavez has picked up a trailer hitch, adding, “So he has a weapon ... He’s looking for a fight.”
One of Estrella’s attorneys, Ben Nisenbaum, accused the police of releasing the 911 audio “to embarrass the family.”
He said under the Fourth Amendment, officers are permitted to rely only on information they are aware of and they would not have been privy to the 911 call, just what a dispatcher related to them.
According to archived radio traffic of the incident, a dispatcher said on the radio that Chavez was trying to rip off screens and that the RP (reporting party) was threatening to get a gun.
“The phone call is what it is, but it doesn’t say (Chavez) is doing anything imminently harmful to anyone,” Nisenbaum said. “The weapon that is described, the tow hitch, it doesn’t say that he is breaking anything with it, striking anyone with it.”
Nor did Chavez use the hitch to threaten the officers or anyone else, said John L. Burris, the lead attorney on the civil case.
Modesto police said the incident remains under investigation. But in the video release of the incident, Chief Brandon Gillespie said, “The Modesto Police Department recognizes and respects the value of all human life. Officer-involved shootings are a tragic event for everyone — our officers, the community and the family members of those involved.”
Gillespie said the department is conducting both internal and criminal investigations, and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office also is investigating. All are standard procedure for an officer-involved shooting.
Family described Chavez as a man who worked hard his entire life to support his family. He lost both his parents at a young age and cared for his ailing mother as a teenager.
He helped raise a younger brother in addition to his three sons, family said. His sister said he took her in when she struggled with addiction and he expected nothing from her in return.
Estrella’s mother, Teresa Clutter, said Chavez came into their lives when he was 15 years old.
“He fell in love with my daughter and she was our firstborn, so we pushed him away,” Clutter said. “Every time we gave him a hazing, he persevered and he went through it and he didn’t give up because he loved her.”
Estrella said that she has been broken since losing her husband and that she and her sons are living a nightmare.
“’What’s going to happen to the cop who killed Dad?’ my youngest asked,” Estrella recalled. “I said, ‘I will happen, son, I will do everything in my power to bring justice.’”
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 6:15 AM.
