Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this story are representative of the victim's family, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the author. This article was written from police statements and various reports provided by the victim's family, as well as numerous interviews with individuals connected to the case. This case is still considered an open investigation, and certain aspects of the case are still currently under review. The victim's family assumes all legal responsibility for assertions made within the story. This piece was originally published on Odyssey in December 2016.
I was asked by my dear friend Donny Walker to cover this case. It's different from most of the cases I tend to write about, and I'll be honest--after doing my initial research, I was reluctant to take it. But it's an important story to share and another example in a long list of police misconduct and corruption in Texas. While you read this account, I'd like you to keep one thing in mind: At what point does an officer's duty cease to be "to protect and serve?" So, at Donny's request, I called Mr. Herbert Walker (no relation to Donny Walker) of Parker County, Texas. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised and found I had an instant fondness for him. Mr. Walker is a cordial and matter-of-fact man, who speaks in slow and clear southern drawl. The story he relayed to me, in great detail, I will share with you now. On the evening of May 23rd, 2015, Herbert was awakened by his wife, Judy, screaming. Hurrying to pull his boots on, he rushed outside to find Judy struggling with their 41-year-old son, Coy. Coy was bleeding from the face and hands, sweating profusely, and seemed to be in a panic. As he flailed about the yard, he screamed that he had been attacked by seven people "in the office"--a makeshift study in a trailer that sat beyond the yard on Herbert's property. Herbert grabbed a bat and set off, sure that he would find intruders still creeping around the trailer. As he approached, he saw the windows of the office had been busted out, curtains torn and dangling above jagged shards of broken glass. The gate to his property was hanging wide open--which struck him as not only unusual but alarming. A quick run around the perimeter told Herbert that if someone had been there, they weren't any longer, and he ran back to the yard to help his wife. At this point, the scuffle had moved into the house, and one window had already been broken. Coy was bleeding freely and still screaming as he thrashed against the arms of his parents. Coy had experienced a heat stroke some weeks before, and Herbert was concerned that this too would turn into a serious medical event. Judy and Herbert struggled to subdue Coy and get him into the bathroom, thinking a cool shower would bring down their son's rapidly climbing body temperature. After a few more moments of struggle and the destruction of a china cabinet, Coy slumped against a wall, shaking violently. Herbert told his wife to call an ambulance. But it was not an ambulance that showed up to aid the Walkers--it was Deputy Tracy Brockway. Deputy Brockway blocked the only entrance to the property with her squad car, effectively preventing EMTs and other responding officers from entering the property. When she entered the Walker home, Coy was slumped on the floor, pale and convulsing. He was obviously not in a state to obey her commands--yet she made the decision to use a taser on an unarmed and visibly unwell man. She pushed him to the ground, facedown, and began to cuff him when a second officer, Corporal Ethan Stark, burst through the door. "Do you have any weapons in the house?" Stark yelled, before vaulting across the room and jumping on top of the still violently seizing Coy. Stark brought his knee down repeatedly into the back of Coy's neck, and began to punch him in the back of the head and face. Deputy Brockway secured Coy's twitching legs and Corporal Stark continued to rain down blows. Stark then straddled Coy and choked him, yelling, "You have to obey whatever we say, motherfucker!" Herbert and Judy Walker watched in shock as their son began to turn blue. At this point, Stark attempted to administer CPR--incorrectly, noted Judy, a former nurse. Deputy Brockway walked outside to move her patrol car so EMTs could enter the property, but it was too late. Coy Wayne Walker was pronounced dead at 1:36 am at Weatherford Regional Medical Center. The officers there dispute the Walkers' version of what happened that night, but the graphic autopsy report is damning. Coy's neck had a serious hyoid bone fracture as well as multiple hemorrhages. He had massive blunt force trauma to his head, face, chest, both arms and legs--damage he most certainly could not have inflicted upon himself. His cause of death was officially ruled "undetermined," but listed several contributing factors: sudden death during physical restraint with neck injury, methamphetamine intoxication, psychosis, and cardiomegaly (enlarged heart). When I first started writing for Odyssey, I said that I would, above all, tell the truth about everything. Even when I was reluctant to. Even when I feared it would hurt my cause. I won't mince words. Coy Walker was high on methamphetamine at the time of his death. He had multiples times the accepted lethal amount in his system. The symptoms and behaviors he exhibited on the last night of his life are indicative of a methamphetamine overdose. Coy also had a criminal record. He had served concurrent sentences for assaulting a police officer, and in a separate incident, assaulting his own father. At the time of his death, he was on parole and had recently left prison as an ordained minister, with the intention of turning his life around. It is a tragedy that he never got that chance--the fact that he was a former criminal with a drug addiction should not negate the fact that he did not deserve to die like an animal, beaten and tased while he lay in the throes of a seizure. This is where my initial question comes into play, dear reader. At what point does an officer's duty cease to be "to protect and serve?" The Walkers called 911 to get medical attention for their son. They were trying to save his life. Instead, he was a victim of excessive force, killed while under police custody. Is a man under the influence of drugs or alcohol no longer worthy of police protection? Is it necessary for an overdosing man to be beaten and tased, after he has already been handcuffed and subdued? Is that what officers are trained to do during a medical emergency? Who were officers Stark and Brockway protecting and serving that night--if anyone? Despite the evidence, no charges were brought against Tracy Brockway or Ethan Stark. The officers said the 911 calls placed by Judy Walker were difficult to understand, and they were operating under the assumption they were responding to a domestic disturbance. All that aside--ask yourself: Is this how officers should respond to a potential suspect who is convulsing on the ground? Domestic disturbance or not, this was a case of excessive and unnecessary violence. If Coy Walker had been subdued and given immediate medical attention, rather than being beaten to the point of unconsciousness, he would have lived. This is my sincere opinion after reviewing all of the facts at hand. My investigation into this case is ongoing, as I am waiting on several key pieces of information to be sent to me--including the 911 recordings from that fateful night. When I receive them, you dear reader, will be the first to know. Until then, I leave you with an answer to my question. At what point does an officer's duty cease to be "to protect and serve?" Never.
If you have any comments or questions, or if you have any information about the Walker case, please contact me at theblackswanbooks@outlook.com.