Kristee Boyle has unanswered questions on Nov. 10, 2021, in Leonardtown in Southern Maryland. The community is still reeling from the April 13, 2021, killing of her 16-year-old son, Peyton Ham, by a Maryland State Police trooper. LEONARDTOWN, Md. — Just two seconds of the fatal encounter in Southern Maryland were captured on video.
Forty-two seconds later, Azzari rattled off four more rounds, according to audio of the shooting from another neighbor’s indoor security camera obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Peyton died shortly thereafter at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, the county seat of St. Mary’s County. Amid enduring grief, Peyton’s family and neighbors are troubled by the local and internal investigations. They note the prosecutor involved had personal ties to the state police. And they take no comfort from a state law, passed after Peyton’s death, that now requires the state attorney general’s office to review police killings in Maryland.
Like many students during the coronavirus pandemic, he’d fallen behind in his studies. However, his teachers told investigators he wasn’t in jeopardy of failing. Police found Peyton wrote several texts and an email about schoolwork about an hour before calling 911. They were included in the state police investigative file, which The Sun obtained under the Maryland Public Information Act.
The Sun sought any disciplinary records for Azzari, who has been a trooper since March 2019 and was a U.S. Marine before that, as part of its records request. State police provided their internal affairs investigation into Peyton’s case, saying there were no other complaints other than technical infractions, such as an issue with a trooper’s uniform.
“The first thing I heard was the officer said, ‘You dropped the gun, now drop your knife,’” Victoria Boyle said. She then recognized her grandson and saw something in one of his hands. “I said, ‘Peyton, just drop the knife. Just drop the knife.’” Michelle Mills and Kellee Boyle also echoed the officer’s commands.
Peyton was struck seven times overall. Other bullets lodged in nearby buildings, including Jean Kenney Combs’ garage across the street. She was in her driveway and said one bullet whizzed by her head: “It was so loud that I thought I was being shot at.” Heiberger said that concept, widely known among U.S. officers as the “21-foot rule,” is based on an experiment that suggests someone with an “edged weapon” can close that distance and cut an officer before they can draw a gun and fire. But the study did not account for a wounded attacker or an officer with their weapon already out.
Terribly sad story.
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