Daniel Vallee

Date: 2/16/2022          Location: New Orleans, LA   FACTORS (1,2,3,4,5,8,19)   

Name: Daniel Vallee                         

Criminal History/Involved: Yes, Vallee “spent more than half of his life in jail, serving various stints for burglary, theft and other crimes related to his addiction to crack.” / Yes, Vallee was wanted for questioning and was refusing to cooperate with the deputies lawful orders.       

Mental Illness: None stated, but Vallee is homeless and a drug addict, which are both typically associated with mental illness.  It is entirely plausible Vallee’s inexplicable actions toward deputies pointing guns at him were made to provoke ‘suicide by cop’ and end his troubled life.

Substance Abuse History/Involved: Yes, Vallee was a known crack addict. / Yes, Vallee was parked in front of a “known crack house” and the toxicology report showed he had “several drugs” in his system.

Race/Sex/Age: White/Male/34

Officer(s) involved: Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Deputies Johnathon Louis and Isaac Hughes      

What prompted the initial contact with police? At around 2:15 a.m., Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call of a noise complaint from a known drug house. Upon arriving at the scene, the deputies observed a vehicle with switched plates parked in front, occupied by Daniel Vallee. For over twelve minutes the five deputies repeatedly ordered Vallee to exit his vehicle, even “begging, pleading, and threatening” him to do so.

Actions taken by subject towards police: Vallee refused to comply with the deputies lawful orders and repeated requests to get out of the vehicle. While he initially turned the vehicle off and locked the doors when the deputies arrived, after around 12 minutes of being surrounded by the deputies, Vallee turned the ignition back on.

Reactions by the police: Fearful for their lives that Vallee was going to try to run them over now that the car’s engine was on again, the deputies pointed their duty guns at him, prompting Vallee to raise his hands in the air. When Vallee inexplicably suddenly dropped his hands and hit the horn, one of the deputies fired his weapon, which then caused another deputy to reflexively fire his weapon. Both Deputies Louis and Hughes fired multiple times, killing Vallee.

Outcome of investigation into the fatal police incident: While the investigation remains open, both deputies were fired and arrested for manslaughter – but have not yet been charged.

What could the subject have done that day to still be alive today? Vallee could still be alive if he: did not park in front of a known drug house; wasn’t wanted for previous crimes; complied with the deputies lawful orders; had not turned the vehicle back on and suddenly dropped his hands to the wheel.

Miscellaneous:  This is the department’s first deadly shooting since implementing body cameras on its deputies. Sheriff LoPinto stated of his deputies, “Their perception was that their life was in danger at that point in time.”

Justified Use of Deadly Force? YES, after twelve minutes of ordering Vallee to comply while they stood in front of a known drug house in the middle of the night, the deputies were rightfully alarmed when Vallee turned the vehicle back on. Vallee suddenly dropping his hands down to the steering wheel would have prompted the deputies to reasonably fear Vallee intended to access a hidden weapon or run them over, for which they were justified to use deadly force. So when Vallee hit the horn instead, either the deputy confused the loud sound with a gunshot and justifiably returned fire or it scared him and caused him to reflexively pull the trigger in what would be an ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE.