The family of a young man killed by an off-duty St. Louis County police officer in Affton last summer are angry that investigative documents about his killing were released to a daily newspaper before the family, and their legal counsel claims this was a manipulative technique intended to shield the police.
“How inappropriate is it for the news media to get the documents and information before the family does, yet again?” said Marlene Gebhard, grandmother of the late Tyler Gebhard, after learning that the investigative report on Tyler’s death had been released to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and published in an online story on February 15.
“I come from a family of police officers, so I thought I understood how the system worked, but the lack of communication and accountability has broken my trust in the system and caused immense suffering.”
ArchCity Defenders, the Gebhards’ counsel, said in a statement, “The decision to exclude the family served to further insulate police, create a public dependence on the police narrative, and exacerbate the family’s grief and stress.” They claimed St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar “have once again demonstrated their complete lack of regard for the families of people who have been killed by the police.”
On July 9, 2016, Tyler Gebhard, 20, was killed by Joshua Lasley, an off duty St. Louis County police officer, in Affton. Since the night he was killed, Tyler’s family has requested information pertaining to Tyler’s death multiple times and repeatedly been denied access, according to ArchCity Defenders.
The said the police and prosecutor refused to provide even so much as a death certificate or medical records related to Tyler’s death.
A spokesman for Belmar declined to comment.
However, McCulloch said that he met with family and counsel from ArchCity Defenders for about an hour a week before the report was released to two media outlets that had made Sunshine Law requests.
“We didn’t have the final report ready, but we went through everything we had,” McCulloch told The American.
On November 17, the family and ArchCity Defenders held a press conference to raise questions and concerns. Only afterwards did the family receive Tyler’s death certificate, which arrived the day before Thanksgiving.
The Gebhard family offered what they described as “two common sense demands of police and prosecutors investigating the death of a loved one”: give grieving families a phone number to call when they have questions about their loved one’s death, and agree to update family members on any discoveries made by their office prior to releasing them to the public.
“In what has become an all too familiar response to families across America who have had loved ones killed by the police, law enforcement in St. Louis has systematically refused to involve the family or be sensitive to their needs in any way,” ArchCity Defenders said in a statement.
“Additionally, the unexplained delays in this case reflect a strategy by law enforcement to merely wait out the public until another tragic killing occurs and diverts the spotlight.”
Marlene Gebhard, the grandmother of the deceased, offered support to other families who have lost loved ones to police officers.
“My heart goes out to other families who have lost loved ones at the hands of police and been dragged through such a murky process,” she said. “No one should have to go through this hell.”
