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DJ Henry: New police account of fatal night emerges during depositions

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – It was almost exactly two years ago that a young Easton man was shot to death by an officer from the Mt. Pleasant Police Department in New York.

DJ Henry's father weighs in on new police account

DJ Henry, a student and college football player at Pace University, was fatally shot by Officer Aaron Hess while he was inside a car outside a bar in Mount Pleasant.

Hess was on the Hood of Henry's car when he opened fire through the windshield.

Hess claimed he fired in self-defense, and a grand jury cleared him of any wrongdoing; however, it appears a key account of what happened that night is changing.

Henry's family is suing Hess and the Town of Mount Pleasant, New York, and during depositions, an officer at the scene gave a different account of what happened that night.

Officer Ronald Beckley, who is now retired, gave a sworn statement saying he heard a shot and saw Hess mounting the hood of Henry's car.

Once on the hood, Beckley says Hess fired at Henry again. Beckley adds that he drew his own gun and fired at Hess, not knowing he was a police officer.

"I was shooting at a person that I thought was the aggressor and was inflicting deadly physical force on another," Beckley said.

Hess suffered a leg injury during the incident, and Beckley says that Hess told him that he had been shot in the knee.

The District Attorney never interviewed Beckley and that account of Hess being hit by a bullet from another police officer was never part of the official police report.

Henry's family believes there was a police cover up and this is a part of it.

DJ Henry's father weighs in on new police account