MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As friends gathered to remember Darrius Stewart outside of Wooddale High School on Saturday, the man who was with him the night he died spoke out about what happened.
“I was in shock. I’m like you know my life changed in a blink of an eye,” Rickey Taylor said.
Taylor was pulled over that night by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling.
He claimed he was given a ticket and allowed to leave, but when he returned his friend was dead.
“What they’re saying transpired by the time I left and came back, that’s not Darrius. I wouldn’t think he would do nothing like that,” said Taylor.
The officer said he was about to arrest Stewart, who had warrants for sexual abuse of a minor and failure to appear in court, when he was attacked.
He said Stewart was able to get his handcuffs and use them as a weapon against him.
That’s when he shot Stewart.
Police say Schilling and his family have received threats because of the case.
Kenny Lee said nearly a dozen officers rushed into his house early Saturday morning asking questions about the case.
That’s when they told him Schilling and his family had been threatened, and his name came up in the investigation.
Lee says he would never threaten someone’s life and said he was mistreated by police.
