Family of motorcyclist killed in ‘road rage’ shooting demands answers after case dropped
Since her son was fatally shot on a Fort Worth roadway, Janice Gray has demanded answers.
In June 2021, 19-year-old JaDerek Gray died after a driver shot him on Interstate 35W. Fort Worth police described the shooting as “road rage” related, and said in a press release at the time that Gray pulled a gun on the driver and the driver acted in self-defense. Gray’s family disputes this explanation, saying that Gray would not have threatened anyone and there is no evidence he did so. A witness told CBS he heard gunshots, but said he did not see who started the altercation.
On Monday, Janice Gray and other family members stood outside the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office building with photos of JaDerek Gray and signs about his death. John Barnett, a civil rights activist with True Healing Under God, led the press conference. Barnett has worked on civil rights cases across the country, and he said JaDerek Gray’s case is an example of injustice against Black Americans.
Janice Gray said the Fort Worth Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office have not been transparent about their investigation or the criminal case, which was dismissed in February. Gray said she did not find out the case was dismissed until Barnett called the DA’s office to ask about the case in mid-July.
Gray said she had been receiving updates about the case, including when the shooter was indicted on aggravated assault in December. But when Phil Sorrells became the district attorney in January, she said, the updates stopped.
In response to the Star-Telegram’s interview request, the DA’s office said in an email that JaDerek Gray “was a 19-year-old motorcyclist who was shot and killed after a road-rage incident on June 25, 2021. He was shot in self-defense by a SUV driver after Gray threatened him and his family with a gun.”
The DA’s office did not answer the Star-Telegram’s questions about why the case was dismissed.
The shooting
Four days after JaDerek Gray’s death, Fort Worth police sent out a press release about the shooting. According to the release, JaDerek Gray was driving his motorcycle north on I-35 and weaving in and out of traffic. A man in an SUV started to change lanes and didn’t see Gray on his motorcycle, causing Gray to swerve to avoid being hit by the SUV, the release said. According to police, JaDerek Gray passed several cars and stopped in the roadway.
According to the police statement, JaDerek Gray walked back toward the SUV and pointed a handgun at the driver. The driver told him to put down the gun and that he had children in the car, police said. Gray continued to walk toward the driver, police said, and pointed his gun at the SUV. The driver grabbed a gun and shot the 19-year-old, police said.
The press release says the driver of the SUV cooperated with the initial investigation and was not arrested at that time, and that police found JaDerek Gray’s handgun at the scene. Police said they also interviewed several witnesses.
JaDerek Gray’s family members do not believe the driver, or the police department’s, version of events, and said they have not seen any evidence to support it. Janice Gray said she does not believe her son pulled a weapon on someone; she said he didn’t like to kill bugs, let alone threaten a family.
“As far as him doing any harm to someone, never,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
She said photos of the accident show that her son’s backpack he carried while on his motorcycle was zipped shut, and if he had pulled out a gun, it would have been open. To Janice Gray’s knowledge, police have only offered the driver’s testimony as evidence that her son aimed a gun at the driver.
‘Closed and hidden’ case
Janice Gray said she is frustrated by the lack of transparency from the DA’s office. She has not been able to look at police records in the case or even the accident report; she said a public records request for documents in her son’s case was denied.
Barnett said when he asked the district attorney’s office why the case was dismissed, he got no answers. A person at the DA’s office told him Janice Gray was informed that the case was dismissed, but Janice Gray said she had not heard from the DA’s office since the new administration began in January.
On Monday afternoon, Barnett said he met briefly with District Attorney Criminal Division Chief Rose Anna Salinas. He said she would only meet with him in the lobby and described her as “very tense and unsupportive.”
“Some cases are just closed and hidden and they are closed for a reason, because they don’t want the truth to come out,” Barnett said. “So we’re gonna come back again, we’re gonna stage a justice rally, and if we got to, we’re gonna stand in the middle of the street and block traffic.”
At the time of his death, JaDerek Gray had recently graduated from high school, and he worked at General Motors as an assembler. He planned to enroll in the U.S. Air Force in November 2021.
“It was very upsetting for there to be no trial, no jury,” JaDerek Gray’s uncle James Gray said. “For the police department to tell you, ‘it’s an open and shut case.’”
This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 5:44 PM.
