Deborah Danner was an intelligent woman that lived in New York City. She wrote an essay in 2012 about the challenges of living with mental illness that later got published to the New York Times website in Oct 2016. What makes her essay intriguing is that she practically predicted her own death in the essay. She referenced the death of Eleanor Bumpurs, a mentally ill woman who was killed by police in her apartment. Soon, she would suffer the same fate.
Deborah suffered from a mental disorder called schizophrenia, but she did not let that affect her life. She attended many extracurricular classes like art and acting. According to a pastor of the Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, Reverend Matthew Heyd said “She loved being part of our community, but she was struggling with her illness and how to handle the baggage that came with her illness. She often felt alienate and alone.” Many people who interacted with her saw Deborah as a well-educated middle class woman, but neighbors mentioned that her behavior went downhill after her mother’s death in 2006. She has been admitted in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Her neighbors had to call the police on her for multiple occasions due to noise disturbances.
An unfortunate call on the evening of October 18, 2016 would be the last report on Deborah. Sergeant Hugh Barry responded to the report and confronted Deborah in her apartment. He was met with a stressed female that wielded a pair of scissors in her hand. The officer was able to persuade Deborah to drop the scissors, but she picked up a wooden bat and lunged at him. Barry then shot her twice in the torso. They weren’t instant fatal shots, but she did pass away approximately an hour after the mishaps. Barry claimed he shot Deborah in self-defense but her family objects this statement due to the distance between Barry and Deborah.
There is a stigma around mental disorders, especially those who suffer with it. There is fear between both the mentally ill and sane individuals. “Police were not trained sufficiently in how to engage the mentally ill in crisis,” stated by Deborah. Jennifer, Deborah’s sister, makes some strong claims as to why Barry mishandled the situation and should receive punishment. First, she mentions how there were four other cops and no one drew their gun but Barry. Additionally, police have been alerted to Deborah’s residence many occasions and been able to calm Deborah without the use of excessive force. According to The New York Times, training for dealing with mental illness had only accessed 4,400 of the NYPD’s roughly 36,000 officers.
Sergeant Barry was charged with several counts including second-degree murder and was acquitted on all of them. Deborah’s family received a $2 million settlement from New York City. This particular case does seem to get the justice needed and receive attention from the well-known Black Lives Matter community but it all could’ve been avoided had Barry had proper training and followed through with it. May Deborah Danner rest in peace and be a voice for those who suffer mental illness while combating the legal enforcement.
