Teen shot by police remembered at memorial service
By Ken Maguire, Associated Press Writer | January 14, 2006
PLYMOUTH, Mass. --Kristina McGrath, fighting tears in front of 300 relatives and friends, said her younger brother would have been "an exceptional father."
"You had your whole life ahead of you," she said Saturday at a service for 16-year-old Anthony McGrath, who was fatally shot by two Plymouth police officers early Tuesday morning after he allegedly drove a car at them. "It was taken in a moment."
McGrath's relatives said police weren't justified in shooting the teen, who was fleeing police after allegedly attempting to break into a liquor store at 3:20 a.m. But police say the officers' lives were in danger and they reacted appropriately.
A clear plastic sheet protected McGrath's coffin from heavy rain as it was carried into Christ Church Parish, an Episcopal church that waived its $700 fee after family members said they couldn't afford proper funeral services.
Relatives and friends held hands, hugged, and some sobbed as the coffin was wheeled to the front of the church, located about a half-mile from the shooting scene. The Rev. Mally Lloyd urged people to resist laying blame.
"We accuse. We justify," she said. "We blame the police. Parents are blamed for poor supervision. We point the finger. If we get stuck ... we can't heal. We are prisoners to our own anger."
Lloyd, alluding to McGrath's previous run-ins with the law, said the teen had left high school but was doing well in a landscaping job after a judge gave him "one last chance."
"We know Tony was not perfect," she said. "He liked to walk that line between right and wrong."
McGrath was recalled as someone with a "big heart" who often helped a handicapped neighbor and brought home stray cats.
After the service, Lloyd said her prayers go out to the two officers and their families. The officers, who were placed on leave pending results of an investigation by the Plymouth District Attorney's office, have not been publicly identified by the department.
"There are two other families in Plymouth who are really suffering," she said. "They can never be the same. I ache for those families. They have to live with this, justified or not."
A Plymouth police spokesman did not return a call Saturday. An officer at the front desk at police headquarters Saturday said the department has no comment. The district attorney's office could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman said this week that there's no timeline to complete the investigation.
McGrath's parents, William and Denise, declined to comment at a reception after the service. Denise McGrath this week said her son "got a death sentence ... for no reason at all."
The two officers opened fire after McGrath allegedly drove his car at them following a high-speed chase that started at Richard's Wine and Spirits. The entire episode lasted just five minutes -- from the break-in call to the shooting.
Police Capt. Michael Botieri said in a statement after the incident that McGrath's car struck one cruiser, hit a utility pole "and accelerated toward the officers." He said both officers "fired at the suspect vehicle striking the operator and sole occupant."
One bullet penetrated McGrath's heart and lung, and a second hit his arm, according to the district attorney's office.
Plymouth resident Pedro Duarte, whose daughter knew McGrath, said after the service that the shooting was unjustified.
"If somebody has a gun, I understand that, you do what you have to do," he said. "But he didn't have a weapon. Put him in jail ... or something, but don't kill him. Let him live."