HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A February trial date has been set for a Huntsville Police officer accused of shooting to death an armed man who told police he was suicidal.
Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate set Feb. 22 for the start of the murder trial involving Officer William Darby, who was indicted in the case following the April 2018 shooting. Darby is charged in the shooting death of 49-year-old Jeffrey Parker, who had called police, telling them he was suicidal. Darby was the third officer on the scene and after Parker refused to drop the gun he held to his head, Darby shot him.
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Jan. 22. Darby was indicted on August 3, 2018.
Darby requested immunity in the case, which was rejected by the Alabama State Supreme Court.
The case, in which Darby shot Jeffrey Parker, who called police saying he was suicidal, became controversial when the City of Huntsville declined to produce to prosecutors the findings of the internal investigation that initially cleared Darby.
