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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Virginia-based police nonprofit group will help defend a former West Valley City detective charged with manslaughter in the shooting of an unarmed woman during an investigation.
An attorney for Shaun Cowley says in a statement that the Alexandria, Virginia-based Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund will contribute money and legal expertise.
Cowley shot and killed 21-year-old Danielle Willard in 2012 during a drug investigation as she backed her car out of a parking space. The group says Cowley was acting in self-defense and he should not have been charged.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill decided Cowley wasn't justified in firing the shots at the unarmed woman. He did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.
A two-day preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 2.
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