1 year later, pain unrelieved

For the parents of Peyton Strickland, the shooting death of their son a year ago today at the hands of a law enforcement officer remains a fresh wound - one that hasn't healed with time.

Strickland was shot to death by a New Hanover County sheriff's corporal who was part of a team of officers serving warrants for the robbery of two video game systems.

The loss of their only son and youngest child has left Don and Kathy Strickland searching for answers, trying to make sense of what happened as they try to move on with their lives.

It's thrust them into the spotlight as the former paramilitary unit member who shot their son was exonerated of criminal wrongdoing not once, but twice.

Then, there's the frustration.

Frustration because nothing has changed in the way the paramilitary unit that Christopher Long belonged to conducts its work.

To say they're emotionally fragile doesn't come close to adequately describing the pain of losing a child they sent to Wilmington to take welding classes.

Today, family and friends plan to hold a candlelight vigil from 6 to 8:45 p.m. on the Riverwalk behind Cape Fear Community College.

Also, they've established scholarships in his honor at The Hill Center academic program in Durham as well as Cape Fear Community College where Peyton was enrolled in welding classes.

To date, the CFCC endowed fund holds $50,000. A student already has financially benefited from the college's funds. The family also paid for a plaque with Peyton's name that is posted outside the welding classroom on the college's North Campus.

The Stricklands stay close to their son by keeping in contact with his friends. Other than that, the family's grief has mostly been private.

Don Strickland, a Durham attorney, and his wife, Kathy, have not given any in-depth media interviews and continue to shun the spotlight, choosing instead to issue written statements through their close friend and spokeswoman, Joyce Fitzpatrick.

What's clear is that the family grappled with confusion and anger when the man who shot their son was exonerated of second-degree murder, then later, voluntary manslaughter, according to their friends.

So far, no civil action has transpired on behalf of the Strickland family, although a year remains under the statute of limitations.

On Thursday, the Stricklands provided another statement in an e-mail.

"The pain this deputy sheriff caused our family and Peyton's many friends will never cease," the statement reads in part. "We are saddened that no one has yet been held accountable for Peyton's death - and that the Sheriff's department has so far refused to accept responsibility and make the changes necessary to prevent a reoccurrence. … We are committed to obtaining justice for Peyton and to having the Sheriff's Department accept responsibility for Peyton's death and make the changes necessary to avert another tragedy, or to be held liable for his death."

Meanwhile, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said he thinks about the shooting death of Peyton Strickland every day.

"It's one of those things you think about," he said in a recent interview. "First thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at night."

Today marks a year since the bizarre and tragic chain of events that began with the theft of video game systems and the subsequent death of Strickland, an 18-year-old Durham native. That was followed by a grand jury investigation in which jurors first indicated - wrongly, it turned out - they had indicted Long in the teen's killing. After that botched decision came a second failed indictment followed by vindication for the 35-year-old Long. Through it all, Strickland's death and the investigation that followed spurred extensive public criticism of how the shooting and court proceedings were handled.

After a failed first indictment, New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David passed the case to the N.C. Attorney General's office to prosecute a second time so people wouldn't think there was a conflict of interest.

And yet, besides Long's dismissal from the sheriff's office, nothing has changed in the way the sheriff's office's paramilitary unit responds to incidents.

The unit, called the Emergency Response Team, primarily exists to quell any Columbine-type incidents at schools and to serve all warrants, including those considered high-risk - like Peyton's.

"We hope nothing like that ever happens again, but unfortunately, human beings are human beings," Causey said. "We train and talk and teach and try to do all we can to prevent anybody from getting hurt."

On the other side, Long's confidants refused to talk.

When contacted by phone Tuesday, Long's mother, Ann Long, said she did not want to comment.

One of Long's attorneys, Mike McGuinness, did not return four phone calls to his office and cell phone and simply sent an e-mail saying that he was tied up at a hearing.

Neighbors said Christopher Long- as well as his wife Michelle, a son and a daughter - are a good family. They said the Longs are active church members who have always kept to themselves.

"It was really devastating what happened to them," said neighbor Rebecca Flynn. "They're just really nice people. They've been really good neighbors."

She said Long is a soft-spoken, gentle man who teases her about being from the Midwest. Flynn, whose son plays with the Longs children, said Long has fixed her lawn sprinkler numerous times. The two families also share mowing duties for the easement on their property.

Flynn said the shooting put Long in limbo during the months of uncertainty over whether he would be indicted on criminal charges.

"Knowing him as a person, there's no question in my mind he was doing what he was supposed to be doing," Flynn said about the shooting.

Meanwhile, the men who would have been Strickland's co-defendants have since pleaded guilty to robbery, receiving probation as the primary punishment.

Ryan David Mills and Braden Riley, who drove the getaway car, both were also ordered to pay restitution to the victim and to perform community service.

What preceded Strickland's death didn't necessarily make headlines.

Just after midnight Nov. 17, after the Sony PlayStation 3 had been released, a UNCW student, Justin Raines, bought two game consoles at Wal-Mart after having waited hours in line.

Unbeknownst to Raines, a gold sedan with three men inside followed him from Wal-Mart to campus.

When Raines arrived at his home on campus, he started taking the PlayStations out of his trunk.

Someone hit him in the head with a blunt object and took the consoles.

UNCW police received information about the three male suspects and asked the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office for help serving a warrant at 533 Long Leaf Acres Drive in a neighborhood off Eastwood Road.

The address belonged to a rental home where Strickland had been living with three roommates. Strickland had moved in that semester to participate in a two-year welding program at CFCC.

Heavily armed members of the ERT unit descended on the home in the evening. Among the items they had with them was a photo investigators had found on the Internet showing Strickland's older friend, Mills, posing with two other men holding guns. The ERT unit also received information that Strickland and Mills were possibly armed.

Unlike the robbery, what transpired that night did make headlines. Long shot Strickland twice - once in the head and right shoulder - through a wooden front door with three glass panels.

Strickland died unarmed.

In the process, Strickland's German shepherd, Blaze, also was shot to death. A pool of blood remained on the front porch where the dog died.

Today, no traces of blood remain at the house and the front door has been replaced with a black one with full-length window panels. The house appears tidy and lived in.

Long, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's office who made a little more than $20 an hour, said in a written statement earlier this year that he mistook the sound of a battering ram for gunshots. A hood, earpiece and helmet he was wearing as part of his gear muffled his hearing, he said at the time.

Two other sheriff's deputies were placed on paid leave because they fired their guns, but the fatal shots didn't come from their weapons.

After the shooting, Long was fired and received no compensation other than what county employees normally receive, which would be any personal days he accrued.

Strickland's death, in effect, ended Long's law-enforcement career.

For Long's former boss, Causey, the memory is far from fading.

"It was a tragedy and continues to be," he said. "It's hard for me to believe it's been a year."

Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008

veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com