The Investigation - Midlothian Police Department
The Investigation - Midlothian Police Department
We did not stop documenting on this page until Midlothian Police abruptly ended all communication with us. They had been promising us answers, but they took our answers with them instead. Midlothian police department dropped off and left us hanging. No explanations .
We did not stop documenting on this page until Midlothian Police abruptly ended all communication with us. They had been promising us answers, but they took our answers with them instead. Midlothian police department dropped off and left us hanging. No explanations .
Law Enforcement Code Of Ethics: As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice. I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty. I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities. I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held as long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession…law enforcement.
- The Living Will - The day Christopher was found dead, Midlothian PD called me on the phone to notify me. Police told me that it appeared as though Chris had just went to bed the night before and he died "Naturally and Peacefully" in his sleep. MPD refused to consider Chris' death as anything other than a "natural death." Officer Ehly claims that Pat Erick emerged from an undisclosed location with Chris' "Living Will" . The document clearly states, " To my loving family I leave you with my Living Will" which stated that Chris wanted to be cremated. Christopher did not have a "Living Will" before he moved in with grandma Pat. Chris was experiencing major confusion and a living will isn't something Chris would have considered ever needing. There are also certain statements within this document that raise huge concerns for me. But Officer Ehly insisted at that time, that there was nothing at the scene to indicate anything other than a Natural Death.
- Christopher died on 11/10/12. Although the lead investigator (Officer Ehly) assured me on 2 separate occasions that he was having the M.E. test Chris for poison, Officer Ehly did not inform the M.E. that this was a possible poisoning. Ehly was so set on this being a natural death, he completely shut out any other possibilities. Chris was cremated on 11/14/12. Officer Ehly allowed my son to be cremated without the needed testing for long term poisoning.
12/13/12 - The M.E. ruled Chris' death a "Natural" death by Heart Attack. This was my first conversation with the M.E. I asked him what about the tests for poison, the M.E. had no idea that this was a possible poisoning so he did not obtain hair and tissue samples needed to thoroughly test for poison. The M. E. told me that he did still have some of Chris' blood and he agreed to send it to his lab for testing.
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1/22/13 - The M.E. called me with Chris' lab test results which were Positive for a Lethal amount of Cyanide. Chris death certificate was amended from "Natural" and added : #1 Cyanide Toxicity by Means "Undetermined" as the first cause of death. Cause of death #2 : Congenital heart defect. (Heart Attack) During this same call, the M.E. stated to me that this definitely needed to be investigated further. The blood was able to provide us with positive or negative findings for poison, but we needed tissue and hair to determine the length of time he was being poisoned. In the M.E. report it reads, " it is unclear whether the decedent acted alone in causing his own death or if another individual may have assisted him or possibly poisoned him. As such the manner of death is "Undetermined".
This same day of receiving the positive cyanide results, Officer Ehly tells me over the phone (after I had just talked to the M.E. myself) he says, yes I have spoke to the M.E. and we both pretty much feel that this was just a one time poisoning meaning we believe this to be a suicide. I reminded Ehly of all the reasons why I suspected poison in the first place, suicide does not fit with this. At the end of the call Ehly reluctantly agreed to investigate Christopher's death.
- I learned via an online newsletter Feb. 26, 2014 Officer Daron Ehly was released from the Midlothian PD and hired by the Midlothian ISD as a school resource officer. (see newsletter below)
- July 2013 - 8 months A.D. - Sgt Scott informs me that they are closing Chris' case and ruling it a suicide. He called me into the police station so that he could go over their findings, but by the end of this meeting Sgt Scott agreed to keep the case open,
During the meeting I learned that they had not questioned anyone regarding Chris' death. They showed me a document that grandma Pat had given to them and Sgt Scott told me that this shipping document which says "Shipped to Chris Erick" on it was their evidence that Chris acted alone and that he ended his own life. I asked Sgt Scott , "How would Chris had bought this when he had no money." Scott pointed to the shipping document and said Chris used his own credit card, look it says 'billed to Chris Erick' so this is our evidence that Chris used his own credit card. " Scott informed me months earlier that they had subpoena Pat Erick's credit card records, but when I asked him during this meeting about whether there was anything like this type of purchase located on her credit card records, he admitted that they never actually did subpoena her credit card records but they Know for a fact that it was Chris' credit card because Pat told them so plus its on the shipping document.
- Confirmed it was Pat Erick's credit card and email used to purchase the cyanide.
I wrote down the information for the shipping document and went home and called Amazon.com myself to ask them more about this purchase that had been made through their online store. Amazon.com confirmed for me that the credit card used to make this purchase was Pat Erick's MasterCard. They also tell me that the email address that they sent confirmation to when the cyanide was on its way was ERICKPAT@*****. I provided this new information to Sgt Scott by email, weeks later since I had not heard back from him I contacted him again. Scott states, "Yes I did get your email, this is good information that you sent to me, I will look into this." Three months more would pass before Scott asked me for proof of what I had found.
After my meeting at MPD station, Sgt Scott agreed to go back and look at the crime scene photos to see if there is anything around Chris which could have been the "method of administering the Cyanide". Sgt Scott noticed a bottle of Gatorade in the vicinity of Chris.
Sgt Scott states: "From looking at the photo's it would appear the cyanide was possibly taken orally with Gatorade". - The truth is, we may never know now.
Officer Ehly did not confiscate this bottle of Gatorade as evidence to be tested. Officer Ehly didn't secure anything as evidence from the scene that day.
July 31, 2013 - "Chris' case is still Active" - MPD
"I made arrangements to meet with Rachel last week" - Sgt Tim Scott -MPD
July 31, 2013 - Sgt Scott states "Chris' case is still active. We have had several high priority cases this past month so those are taking the lead."
At this point, Christopher had been gone for 9 months, yet Sgt Scott admits here that he still has not interviewed Steven Erick. (Chris' dad) or Rachel (Chris' girlfriend). See the following attachment which is Rachel's response to what Sgt Scott is claiming.
Typical police procedures (from what I have read) recommends interviewing possible witnesses of a death between 24-48 hours from the time the investigation is opened. Waiting 9 months allows details to be lost and forgotten. More evidence destroyed.
August 6, 2013 - " Case Closed and Ruled Suicide" - MPD
This message from MPD was sent to a friend of Christopher approx. August 6, 2013 stating that Christopher's case was closed and they had already ruled it a suicide.
Since the very beginning of this investigation I had been getting signals from MPD that they were not really investigating my son's death, although they continued to mislead me. And they still are misleading me almost 2 years later now.
See the above email from SGT Tim Scott of the MPD, he's stating that Chris' case was still active less than one week before this message was sent to Chris' friend.
Sept. 4, 2013 - Text from Rachel regarding Sgt. Scott contacting her to interview her.
10 months after Christopher died and MPD still had not interviewed anyone.
Aug. 29 2013 - 10 months after Chris died, MPD still had not interviewed anyone from the fire station where Steven Erick was employed as an EMT/firefighter, so I went on my own and had a meeting with Asst. Fire Chief Tony Harvey. During our meeting Harvey first words were, "Why hasn't MPD contacted me about this?" He went on to tell me that there were many conflicting stories that he is noticing that Steve had told them about Chris' death. The story that Steve had told them suggests that Steve did have prior knowledge that there was cyanide inside Chris on the day he died. It would be two more months after Chris' death before we would receive the positive lab results, so how did Steve already know?
Needless to say I was eager to share this new info with Sgt Scott. I had assumed that with this info they were sure to start giving Christopher's death the attention that it deserved months ago. I was wrong.
- Below are emails from Sgt Tim Scott at MPD and from Asst. Fire Chief Tony Harvey re: interviews with the fire dept employees. Sgt Scott had scheduled an appointment for Sept. 12, 2013 with the Steve's fire chief who I had spoke with. Sgt Scott assured me that he would go and also interview other firefighters who would have been working with Steve at the time of Chris' death. But then the talk of "Delaying the Interviewing" began.
8 months later, on June 13, 2014 Officer Cody McKinney finally tells me about the findings as far as the fire department has been involved and the results of the interviews conducted. All that Sgt Scott would ever tell me is that he found everything he needed and that he did interviewed 2 shifts that had been working with Steve Erick. -Officer McKinney tells me that there were no interviews conducted at the fire station, but that the two fire chiefs went to the MPD for a meeting. There was nothing noted during their meeting about all that Tony Harvey had said to me. Apparently he was not asked so he did not tell.
- Feb. 22, 2014 - Public Post Written By Chief Carl Smith on Midlothian Police Department Facebook Page: (this original post can be found here on MPD Face book Page ) : https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152261210612359&id=195047007358
Message from that link is attached below by Chief Carl Smith.
Christopher Erick’s untimely death has been taken very seriously by our investigative staff. This case has been open for an extended time period, primarily due to continued requests by Christopher’s Mother to look at the investigation from a variety of perspectives. The investigative effort has been extensive including hours of interviews with members of Christopher Erick’s family and close circle of friends.
Every investigation comes to a point at which every item that can be examined and every relevant conversation has been evaluated and the investigative staff is left with few options. The Christopher Erich case status, being considered open, simply means that our investigative staff has been processing information and Miss Smith has been kept informed of any developments in the investigative effort. Christopher’s case is nearing completion, and our staff have sought outside opinions to validate their findings. They have done all that can be done at this time. I have invited Miss Smith to meet with me, Carl Smith, Chief of Police and Cody McKinney our Criminal Investigation’s Commander to discuss the findings and to ensure that we have considered each of her concerns.
This Facebook page was designed to be an outreach to our community, The City of Midlothian. It serves as a conduit of productive information to and from our citizens, however, it was never designed to be utilized as an unregulated chat room in which derogatory remarks about individual staff or the organization could be posted at will. We do take seriously concerns that are brought to our attention, and have initiated administrative investigations into officer behavior based upon comments from our website and this Facebook page. With regard to complaints, I have found that those who seek real resolution to a problem, concern or valid complaint will contact one of our staff personally.
I do understand that media pressure can be an effective motivator for change, and there are many avenues for this purpose, but this Facebook page is not appropriate nor designed for that purpose and will not be used in that manner. There is a legitimate complaint process that can be followed by anyone who wishes to articulate a complaint against a member of Midlothian Police Department. I invite you to utilize this process if you do have information that indicates inappropriate behavior on the part of any person who works for Midlothian Police Department.
It is my hope and prayer that the family of Christopher Erick can find peace.
- Below is a follow up response by another member of the MPD after many people had posted in disagreement with the MPD's decision to block me from responding on their page. MPD had deleted my post after I asked, "What family and friends did you interview" and so they blocked me from returning. : (post by Jody Prior with the MPD) This comment is no longer available on MPD' web site.)
Oct. 17, 2013 -
On Feb. 22, 2014 MPD claims they were closing Chris' case and on March 10, 2014I filed a FOIA/PA and requested that MPD release copies of everything from Chris' case. In the past two years MPD did not provide me with any new information about my sons death so this was something I really needed to see for any answers. - Two weeks after Chief Smith said they were closing my son's case and ruling it a suicide, in this letter MPD sent to the Attorney General requesting exemption from disclosure on account that they were now conducting a "Criminal Investigation."
BOGUS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Above MPD had claimed thru to the Attorney General's Open Records Division that Chris' case is now considered a "Criminal Investigation" so that MPD would be exempt from disclosing any of Chris' records to me.
(Left) Attorney General's ruled that MPD must release the Basic information to me.
June 13, 2014 officer McKinney informs me that they are again closing the case and ruling it a suicide, without any sort of real investigation what so ever. Pat and the father Steve where undeniably involved in Christopher' death. Police don't deny it, they simply evade the topic. They killed my son, so Pat and Steve are who I want to focus on and receive answers about, but MPD have been protecting them. MPD have even gone so far as to make witness testimony disappear. Witnesses included myself, Rachel (Chris' girlfriend) and the testimony by the Asst. Fire Chief Toney Harvey, who claimed many inconsistencies in Steve's story about our son's death. According to the story Steve told his fire chief, suggests that Steve some how knew that Chris had cyanide in him on the same day Chris died. It would take a couple months after he died before we received positive results from cyanide. This was extremely valuable incriminating evidence that I had found, but MPD made it disappear. Any physical evidence that had been present and waiting to be discovered was destroyed right at the beginning of their investigation.
It was Pat Erick's Master Card used to pay for the cyanide, it was also her email account address which received the shipping confirmation that cyanide was on its way to her house form Thailand. These are just a couple of the things that lead me to believe that this was a homicide, yet Midlothian PD still claims that they see nothing to indicate that Steve or Pat should have been investigated.
