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SALT LAKE CITY — For Melissa Kennedy, the search for justice in the shooting death of her daughter is far from over.
Two years ago, Danielle Willard, 21, was shot in her car during a botched undercover drug operation by Shaun Cowley, then a detective with the West Valley City Police Department.
The Salt Lake County district attorney ruled the shooting was unjustified, and Cowley was later fired from the department for an "egregious" pattern of behavior and violations separate from Willard's death, according to West Valley Police Chief Lee Russo.
Cowley was charged with manslaughter, but 3rd District Judge L.A. Dever dropped the charge at the conclusion of a three-day preliminary hearing Thursday. The move was extremely rare, as prosecutors must only satisfy a low burden of "probable cause" during a preliminary hearing to move the case to trial.
For Cowley, the ruling brought relief. For Kennedy, it brought back a measure of grief that was all too familiar.
"The weird thing is, as I was going into the courtroom (Thursday) morning, I remember thinking that this feels like a funeral," Kennedy said. "To me, basically what happened (Thursday) is he murdered Danielle all over again. That's how I felt."
Kennedy expressed frustration that the charge was dismissed so early in the judicial process, and that the decision was made by just one individual instead of a jury.
"I definitely don't think the judge did his job. If he did, he would have listened to what the actual evidence was," she said. "One person shouldn't be able to make a decision like that. … Why would he do that? Why not just send it on to the jury and let (Cowley) have his day in court? That's all I've ever asked for."
Kennedy said she plans to continue with a civil suit she filed in June last year in consultation with District Attorney Sim Gill and the Salt Lake County Attorney General's Office. She said that while the legal options looking forward remain unclear, she hopes to take every opportunity she can to find justice for her daughter.
"They're going to look into it and see what the possibilities are," she said. "I still have faith in them. I know this is not over. I think that eventually we will prevail over him."
Contributing: Andrew Adams
