PALMDALE – A Palmdale man who was killed in his garage three months ago by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies was shot 11 times, and all but one of the bullets entered the back side of his body, according to a copy of the autopsy report obtained by The AV Times.
Darrell Logan Jr., 32, was shot five times in the back, once in the back of the head, once in the buttocks, twice in the back of the legs and once in the right hand during the Oct. 13, 2011 incident, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Autopsy Report. A “thru-and-thru” bullet to the left knee was labeled as “unknown direction,” according to the report.
“Why would you shoot him in the back?” said Logan’s mother, Arzenia Ratliff. “Because he wasn’t listening to your commands? That’s not fair!”
According to a Sheriff’s press report, released the day of the shooting, Palmdale Sheriff’s Station deputies responded to Logan’s home in the 3100 block of Heather Avenue in Palmdale after receiving a call about gunfire coming from the residence. The report states deputies made “verbal commands for the occupants to exit the garage. The suspect refused to exit.”
“When deputies entered the garage they were confronted by the armed suspect and a deputy-involved shooting occurred,” the Sheriff’s report states. “The 32-year old male suspect [Logan] was struck and transported to a local hospital where he was subsequently pronounced dead.”
No deputies were injured and a handgun was recovered at the scene, according to the report.
According to the coroner’s narrative, Sheriff’s detectives requested gunshot residue, hair and finger nail evidence from Logan’s body shortly after the incident.
Logan’s wife, Krystle Washington, who was at home during the incident, said Logan fired a gun once in the air; but she says this happened before deputies arrived. Read her story here.
Logan’s mother, Arzenia Ratliff, said she spoke to the man who was inside the garage with Logan when deputies forced entry.
“The witness is telling me that my son’s hands were up the whole time, he had no weapon, he had no gun at all…” Ratliff said. “From my knowledge, if they found a gun, it was much much later.”
Ratliff, who ordered the autopsy report about six weeks ago and received it Saturday, said she believes the autopsy proves that her son’s shooting was unjustified.
“It tells me that my son was mostly shot in the back,” Ratliff said. “And then he got shot in his right hand, and he is right handed. That tells me that maybe he didn’t have a gun in his hand.”
The coroner’s autopsy report describes each of the 11 bullet wounds, and how each projectile traveled from back to front in Logan’s body. Five of the gunshot wounds were listed as fatal, one as potentially fatal, and the rest as non-fatal, according to the report. Of the five fatal shots, two bullets entered the back area and exited the chest area; one entered the mid back and was recovered from Logan’s body; one bullet entered the back and exited the abdomen; and one bullet entered the right buttocks, penetrating the right kidney, liver, and lower lung, according to the report. The bullet to the back of Logan’s head was listed as potentially fatal and the remaining gunshot wounds throughout the back of Logan’s body were listed as nonfatal.
Despite repeated requests for comment, officials have said little about the deputy-involved shooting to The AV Times, citing ongoing investigations involving the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau, and attorneys from the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review (OIR).
At a town hall meeting Nov. 28, 2011 in Lancaster, Sheriff’s Commander, Anthony La Berge, said the investigation could take several months, and a final conclusion would be made by the District Attorney’s Office on whether there was criminal intent on the part of the Sheriff’s Department.
“We just can’t discuss it right now until the investigation is completely and thoroughly done and the DA’s office has a chance to review it, analyze it and make their final determination,” La Berge said at the meeting. Read more on that meeting here.
Logan’s mother has retained an attorney and is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department.
“I’m not going to stop,” said Ratliff. “I would like to see the Sheriff’s Department use different tactics when they’re trying to arrest or subdue someone. There’s teargas, rubber bullets, bean bags, dogs, negotiation and swat. They could have even called me, because I could have talked my son out of all this.”
The coroner’s autopsy was conducted by Deputy Medical Examiner, Dr. Kevin Young, and witnessed by Sgt. J. Frendendall of the Sheriff’s Department and investigator Gregory Frum of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. View the Autopsy Report here.
Mike Lackey says
I Get extremely tired of hearing the phrase “let God be the judge”? which god? if this “god” was going to “judge” then why didnt it “judge” the behavior of the criminals? and why doesnt it judge people who harm others and who bring their trashy lifestyles with them and make everyone else suffer for it? why do we only hear the phrase “let god be the judge” when someone’s butt is in a sling or when they are upset because something didnt go their way. “let god be the judge”….yeah “god” to all of you is this big invisible Santa claus looking man with a long beard who sits on a chair of gold. he gives you presents when you pray and he throws lightning bolts after you when you dont? really?????? you need to evolve in your thinking and get past this mind set! this view of life and of a higher power is beyond pathetic!
justice4DDL says
There is not one side it was a witness Carter
Facts says
Thanks for posting the autopsy report for public review. What the headline in this story fails to highlight is that the trajectory of the bullets indicate that Mr. Logan was probably standing sideways to the deputies or turning towards his right. Since his mother stated that he was right handed, could it be that he was turning towards the deputies with the gun in his right hand which prompted them to fire their weapons at him. Two deputies, seeing the threat and firing at the same time easily explains the number of shots fired. The trajectory in the report (right to left and upward) also explains what they probably saw at the instant that they had to make the life and death split second decision. Sad that Mr. Logan had to lose his life this way but it sounds more and more like this may have been a “suicide by cop” decision on his behalf. I’m just drawing that conclusion based on the earlier statements by his wife that he often expressed suicidal thoughts. Maybe that’s why the family never mentions the wife’s comments when they speak out against the police. She obviously knew him best and was the last person to interact with him before this deadly encounter. Sad the police are put into such tense and uncertain situations and then crucified in the media for protecting their lives and the rest of the law abiding public.
justice4DDL says
I hear what your saying but the eyewitness said Logan had no gun in hand and as you can see from the report it was an open hand shot and its been told that logan could not have been married and the wife is not creditable how did she get a signature from logan when he was incarcerated? I believe the shooting was wrongful death the officers panicked the officers went there with intention to kill. if not why didn’t they use a different tactic before they busted the door in like a standoff a dog etc…
Facts says
You must be reading a different version than what has been reported in printed in the press. The deputies went there in response to a call from neighbors who heard a woman screaming and shots fired coming from inside the house. They arrived and ordered the occupants of the house to come out to them. That sounds safe to me. The only one who honored that request was the wife. Guess what, she cooperated and followed instructions and is alive and unharmed today. Then they went in the house and brought out the small child to her “Alive”. Sounds like they were more “intent” on saving lives than taking lives. As for the witness who stated he wasn’t holding the gun that was found in Mr. Logan’s possession, funny how the only persons reporting that statement are the Logan family members. The other two witnesses, the deputies, reported that he was holding the gun, which is why they had to shoot him. That same witness who was in the garage with Mr. Logan was not shot or injured. Doesn’t sound like the deputies were cold blooded killers to me, otherwise there would not have been any witnesses left alive in that garage. You have to stop ignoring these facts simply because you hate the police. They potentially saved three lives that day, and possibly their own lives as well. Again, this sounds like a “suicide by cop” situation to me. However, some won’t want to accept that fact because you can’t get a big fat settlement with that finding of FACTS!
Tommy Tactical says
Interesting,
The family and press didn’t post the toxicology results if the Coroner’s report. Hmmmmm, is that because Darrell’s blood tested positive for high levels of drugs and alcohol in his blood. Family members be honest because i know those results.
D. Lamont says
Nice try… But if someone is standing sideways, at least one of bullets would have hit on the side, wouldn’t it? And the trajectory of only SOME of the bullets are from right to left. This does not have to mean Logan was turning when shot. It could also indicate that Logan’s body was twisting to the right from the impact of the first bullets. This would make subsequent bullets travel from right to left. On closer observation, there are also bullets that go in the right and come out on the right (i.e. gunshot #3 that entered the right back and exited the right upper chest). And how would you explain the bullet to the back of the head? When you are turning around, the first thing that turns is your head. If Logan was turning before shot, shouldn’t he have taken a shot to the right side of the face versus the back of the head? And finally, are we completely ignoring what the witness said about Logan not having a gun? Do you think the witness was just telling the mother what she wanted to hear or flat out lying?
Let me be clear, I DO NOT believe deputies came to the house with the INTENTION of killing Logan. But the shooting does raise some questions…
Facts says
Questions that will be answered by the District Attorney’s office and not by those of us on the blogs.
Jacky Johnson says
Yet you yourself answered them in your above post. So you know the truth, or the investigators? By declaring the deputies as saving lives AND helping a man commit “suicide by cop”. Why bother with an investigation?
Facts says
Because we are all just people blogging our opinions. And you know what they say about people and their opinions.
So the final investigatory findings by the district attorney will be interesting to read. I have a feeling that once the all of the facts are presented and the officers cleared, there will still be folks out there that will claim cover-up and want to organize marches, demonstrations and other nonsense. Meanwhile, all law abiding folks will continue to feel safe in our homes and community, and will thank the officers that keep it that way.
Mister says
I see all of you have had quite some experience watching C.S.I. Apperently some of you, didn’t pay too much attention. If you fire a weapon in the city limits, obviously you have one in your possession and you were also dumb enough to fire it and put innocent people in harms way. I still don’t understand why people are surprised thr police showed up with guns drawn. If a gun is being fired, some one wants special attention from the police. As for everyone who thinks he was maliciously shot in the back, noone had taken into account the angle at which the deputies were standing. From what I read here, it’s been established that there were two officers who fired their weapons. Maybe, just maybe they both weren’t in the exact same location? Hmmmmmm. From my experience with physics…. I can attest to the fa t that no two esperar objects can occupy the exact same place. For those of you who
can’t spell or understand what I’m saying, it’s impossible for those 2 officers to stand in the same spot. That is all.
Mister says
F.Y.I my iPhone completely screwed up the message. That is all.
Bill B says
actually for your information those officers didnt have to be in the same spot they were side by side in the doorway after they broke it down, if you haven’t seen the crime scene or didnt see how they entered or how the inside of the garage looks you wouldnt know.
mister says
if only you only knew what i knew
Melody burns says
U people are really crazzy dont you see whats going on in out community the sherriffs are out of control they are planting drugs on people beating and killing people our people open your eyes something is wrong beware of wolf in sheep clothing
Facts says
Melody, when did you get paroled? Welcome back to the hood. How long before you re-offend?
S. Parker says
What ONE SIDE of the story do you speak of? Am I to believe that an INDEPENDENT Autopsy Report from the Los Angeles County Coroner is somehow portraying one side of the story? Because I believe this story recounts the contents of said autopsy report. Just because it appears to make deputies look bad does not mean it is one side of the story. The article also mentions a statement from the Sheriffs given on the day of shooting. Is that only ONE SIDE of the story too?
Don’t get me wrong, I do value our law enforcement. That’s why I have decided to suspend my judgement until the entire investigation is complete. But to say this article only represents one side of the story is simply inaccurate…
justicewillbeservedforDLLJR. says
Ace carter your comments at worth NOTHING and the fact that you’ve been commenting every since darell logan havee passed is a shame because you must not understand the pain this family is going through , you didnt lose your son , Arzenia Ratliff did so how bout you [Removed]
justicewillbeservedforDLLJR. says
Is*
blessed monique says
Seems to me that Ace Carter is the sheriff himself…. thats way he sees this as justice when people get power they abuse it to thier own satisfaction…..
Matt Keltner says
Ace Carter is NOT a Sheriff.
blessed monique says
let you tell it
DLLthereWILLbe Justice says
how do you know
Matt Keltner says
…because I know who Ace Carter is! He is a longtime resident of this Valley, as am I. Does that suffice?
blessed monique says
how would you feel if this was ur son ? no better yet how would you feel if it was u that was shot 11 times ?i will be waiting for ur response to my comment !now his family has to sit an wonder why there love one was gunned down by the police its plenty of diffrent things they could of used to get darrell logan out thats WAT HE HAS A MOTHER FOR! she could of talked him out of it the police has plenty of diffrent things to get people to listen to them an shooting them shouldnt be one excuse me if u think im being rude its just my attitude!an when people comment r post dumb things are asked dumb questions expect someone to reply to it an i see u been saying stuff ever since they started posting stuff about darrell thats why im saying wat im saying to u an who ever else feel the need to say something dumb let us no when u lose someone that was killed by the police then maybe u can relate to this story other then that please keep ur negative comments to ur self !
blessed monique says
this is toward ace carter
Stinger says
These results do not bode well. So many shots in the back brings a great deal more questions.