CLINTON, Tennessee — The District Attorney General in Anderson County said the state will not be pursuing charges against a Clinton police officer who shot and killed a man in March.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation led the case.
On March 3, 2024, a Clinton Police Department officer shot 25-year-old Isaiah Gregory Hill during a 911 call for a "suicidal male" at Calloway Village Apartments on Medaris Street around 8 p.m. Hill later died in the hospital.
Few details about the shooting were publicly released during the investigation. CPD said at the time the officer had "minor injuries" from the incident.
Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark identified the officer as Matt Howell.
The Shooting
Clark said Howell arrived at the home knowing someone could be suicidal. When the officer got out of his vehicle, Clark said Howell heard a woman yell "he wants to kill himself."
Howell saw Hill carrying a large knife before Hill began "darting" at the officer, the DA said.
"Howell commanded Hill to, 'drop it' and to 'get back, get back' but Hill continued toward Howell while wielding a large knife," Clark said. "Howell quickly retreated backwards and away from the approaching Hill."
Clark said Howell pulled out his gun and shot at Hill twice, hitting him both times. The officer then fell backward and broke a bone in one of his arms.
Clark said it took roughly 12 seconds from the time Howell got out of his vehicle to the time the second shot was fired.
Investigators said the officer kicked Hill's knife away before going to grab first-aid equipment from his cruiser. Clark said someone yelled "get down," which caused Howell to look back at Hill. The officer said he saw Hill get back up and try to walk toward the apartment.
The officer started moving back toward Hill, saying he was concerned Hill would grab the knife.
"As Howell approached Hill, Hill collapsed back to the ground. Howell began administering first-aid to Hill," Clark said. "When rendering aid, Howell asked Hill, 'Why did you force me to shoot you,' and Hill replied, 'I want to die.' Witnesses at the scene observed Howell rendering aid to Hill and saying to him, 'Stay with me.'"
An ambulance responded to take Hill to the hospital. Clark said Hill told an EMS employee "he wanted to die" and that he was "unlucky because he wasn't shot in the head."
"Hill asked the EMS personnel to just let him die," Clark said.
Officer Howell was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his forearm after the incident.
Hill died later that evening.
The Investigation
According to Clark, investigators found "pools and trails" of blood inside and outside the home that were not part of the police response. The DA said the findings were consistent with reports that Hill was suicidal and that Hill had cut his wrists before police arrived. Investigators found a large knife in the home and prescription medication in Hill's bedroom.
The autopsy revealed Hill had died from a gunshot wound to his torso. A forensic pathologist told TBI agents that Hill had severed arteries in both of his wrists that would have resulted in him bleeding to death.
Investigators said witness statements were consistent with the limited video footage and physical evidence.
Clark said it appeared Hill was trying to commit "suicide by cop."
One of the witnesses, Hill's grandmother, told police initially that Hill had not "slept for four days" and seemed to be teetering on the edge of "full-blown psychosis." She said Hill had stabbed himself with a large knife and that there was blood "all over the place" before she called 911.
When the TBI took over the investigation, Clark said the grandmother would not speak to investigators. Clark said she later talked with a non-investigative member of the TBI over the phone and made "a number of statements," but never talked with TBI investigators. Clark said some of the statements conflicted with her earlier ones, and she alleged the officer had shot Hill in the back, that there were three shots instead of two, and claimed the officer fired the final shot while Hill was on the ground.
The autopsy report said there were two gunshot wounds to the torso and the right side of the chest.
"There was no other information regarding the context or basis for these statements, so we have to proceed based upon what is available. Some of these points were allegations and not based upon her actual observations," Clark said.
The Conclusion
Clark said the state determined Howell was justified to use deadly force as an officer in this case because he was charged at by an armed man who was within feet of him. He also said witness reports showed Howell tried to provide aid to Hill after the shooting.
Clark had the following to say in his conclusion:
"In light of all the foregoing, I do not find sufficient evidence to believe Howell could be convicted of a crime. I do not even find probable cause that Howell committed a crime. In fact, I find no basis to believe there is any fault whatsoever with Howell's performance on the night of Hill's death no matter what standard is used. I cannot imagine what he could reasonably be expected to have done differently and in fact, in many ways Howell was called into a trap that night that caused him to have to fight for his own life and that he is still dealing with through the lingering cloud of this investigation. Accordingly, there will be no criminal charges filed against Officer Howell."
Clark said he hopes some good can be done for others by discussing the "hard truth" behind Hill's death.
"Too often I observe that citizens are suffering from mental illness and living in homelessness or are rendered especially vulnerable and preyed upon as crime victims or resort to self-medicating with street drugs or pose a violent danger to themselves or others or otherwise commit crimes and these the criminal justice system and jails are overwhelmed and not designed for or properly equipped to address those behavior issues," he said. "I would observe that time and time again there aren't sufficient resources to deal with mental illness and those that seek help often don't get help or don't get enough help. Through informal conversations, it seems that our community is aware that mental health services are inadequate but somehow, as a society, we seem resigned to accept that situation or we see no answers. I continue to hope that we can do better."