Denver Post

Autopsy: Childs shot in chest, back
Teen's mother has no comment on coroner report
By John Ingold
Denver Post Staff Writer

Friday, August 22, 2003 - Paul Childs was shot three times in the chest and abdomen and once in the back of the shoulder, according to an autopsy report released Thursday.

The report also shows Childs, 15, had in his body a normal amount of the drug Tegretol, which he used to control seizures. And it concludes, based on his clinical history, that Childs was mildly retarded.

Denver police officer James Turney shot and killed Childs on July 5 at his family's home in northeast Denver. Childs was holding a knife and didn't drop it when the officer ordered him to. Childs' family had called police when he grabbed the knife out of a kitchen drawer.

The shooting sparked community outrage and questions about whether officers could have avoided such a confrontation with the developmentally disabled youth.

Childs' mother, Helen, thumbed quietly through the autopsy report Thursday. She declined to make any comment about it, saying she would wait for her attorney to see it before making a statement.

Legal heavyweight Johnnie Cochran has agreed to represent the Childs family.

"It's just hard," Helen Childs said after reading the report. "That's about all I can say. It's hard."

In front of the family home on East Thrill Place stood a weather-worn sign made with white poster board bearing Paul's picture. "No Justice, No Peace," it reads.

The autopsy report revealed little new information.

It showed that four bullets ripped through Childs' healthy body. One hit him in the left side of the abdomen. Another struck him in the lower chest on the right side. Another hit on the right side of his abdomen. And another entered near the top of the back of his right shoulder and exited through his right upper back.

Dr. James Wahe, who performed the autopsy for the Denver coroner's office, said nothing in the autopsy's findings contradicted Turney's account of the shooting.

Wahe couldn't say in what order the bullets hit Childs. The autopsy does not indicate how far away Turney was when he fired, but previous reports have placed the distance at 5 to 7 feet.

Wahe said the gunshot wound to the back was likely caused by Child's natural movement as he was shot.

"Most likely he was leaning forward, so your shoulder comes down a little bit," Wahe said.

The report shows that Denver Health Medical Center paramedics and doctors tried feverishly to save Childs' life after he was shot. Doctors performed emergency surgery to no avail, the report says.

The Denver Police Department is finishing its investigation into the shooting. It will then turn its report over to the Denver district attorney's office. Lynn Kimbrough, the spokeswoman for the DA's office, said there is no timetable for when that will happen.