The Denver Post
Childs case settled, mom plans gravestone
Tuesday, June 08, 2004 -
Helen Childs plans to use some of the $1.325 million settlement she and her daughter will receive this month to buy her slain son, Paul, an engraved tombstone.
Then she intends to move away from the house on East Thrill Place in northeast Denver where a police officer shot and killed Paul in July 2003 after he walked toward the officer and failed to drop a knife. "With this money, I want to get my son a nice headstone with one of his prom pictures (engraved) on it," Childs said in her living room Monday afternoon, just inches from where her son's blood still stains the carpet and bullet holes still mark the wall. Childs' remarks, her first extended public comments in months, came hours before the Denver City Council voted 11-1 to give final approval to the settlement, without discussion. Councilwoman Carol Boigon was absent and Jeanne Faatz dissented. The city will make the settlement payment later this month. The settlement is the latest in a series of reverberations from Paul Childs' shooting death. The shooting led to a 10-month suspension without pay for officer James Turney, who shot Childs. And Mayor John Hickenlooper, who took office shortly after the shooting, has made some changes in the Police Department and plans more. Helen Childs, 39, said she feels "a little relief" with the settlement completed. "But the community, the city councilmen and everybody else - they'll go on with their lives," she said. "But it's going to be hard for me to go on with my life. I'm going to have to deal with this day to day because I miss my son so much." Helen Childs and her daughter, Ashley, converted Paul's room to a nursery for Ashley's infant son, AaJaiveon, in January. But reminders of Paul linger. A painting of Paul and his sister hangs in the front room. In it, artist Jay Mason depicts Paul Childs as an angel. Clay wind chimes Paul made in school still hang from the porch.
Childs talks about the difficulty of life without her son. The largest portion of the city's settlement will be paid to Helen Childs. A smaller portion will be set aside in an annuity for Ashley Childs. An undisclosed amount will go to attorneys' fees for Denver- based law firm Holland & Hart and famed attorney Johnnie Cochran. In her house on Monday afternoon, Childs recounted several aspects of her son's death. A teen frustrated with his developmental limitations, Paul had run away from his home on many occasions, his mother said. Months prior to the shooting, Turney drove Paul home after one of his dashes. Childs recalled Paul waking up on his last day, July 5, and stewing quietly. He brooded after his mother asked him to clean his room. "I can't explain the look on his face," she said. "Paul was not himself that day. There was no argument - nothing. He woke up not saying nothing to nobody." Once Paul picked up a knife, Ashley Childs called the police, hoping they could calm him down. "I don't know what we could have done differently," Helen Childs said. The suspension of Turney and the mayor's pending police reforms factored into Childs' decision to agree to the settlement, she said. In the 11 months since Paul's death, she has appreciated the supportive visits by friends, relatives and Paul's teachers, she said. "I want to just thank everybody that has been there for me, everyone who has supported me in this, from the bottom of my heart," Childs said. "And to say to those people who don't know the situation, I will keep you in my prayers." Staff writer Kieran Nicholson contributed to this report. Staff writer Kris Hudson can be reached at 303-820-1593 or khudson@denverpost.com . |