The man shot and killed Friday by a Houston police officer has been identified as Adrian Medearis, a well-known local gospel artist who directed the gospel choir at Evangelist Temple Church of God In Christ in the South Acres neighborhood, friends say.
Medearis, 48, was a former director for the Prairie View A&M Baptist Student Movement gospel choir and founder of God’s Anointed People, a contemporary gospel group. He also performed with choirs at other churches
Medearis was pulled over around 1:30 a.m. by a Houston police officer, identified only as J. Ramos, in the 11700 block of the North Freeway. Ramos was conducting DWI enforcement on the highway when he clocked Medearis driving more than 90 mph, Houston Police Executive Asst. Chief Matt Slinkard said at the time.
During the stop, Ramos performed field sobriety tests and placed him under arrest for suspected DWI. A struggle ensued while the officer tried to handcuff him, Slinkard said. He said Medearis at one point grabbed Ramos’ Taser, and the officer fired his gun multiple times, fatally striking Medearis at least twice.
The officer suffered minor injuries, and no other officers or witnesses were on the scene. Police have not released footage of the incident. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told the Houston Chronicle late Sunday that he planned to reach out to Medearis’ family to discuss the chain of events that led to the shooting.
Acevedo said Ramos’ body camera was knocked off, but he reviewed videos from other vantage points that clearly capture the struggle.
“The characterizations of what happened that night by Chief Slinkard, from what I’ve watched, is accurate,” Acevedo said.
Two of Medearis’ longtime friends say the police account doesn’t jibe with his character. Michael Stevenson, the music director at Blueridge United Methodist Church, for more than 25 years had known Medearis as a “happy-go-lucky person” who enjoyed giving back to his community.
He was a devout Christian, and his music consumed his life, he said.
“Even if you thought he had something to drink, I don’t see where a life should have been taken,” he told the Houston Chronicle on Sunday.
Houston resident Dav Lewis said he met Ramos about 10 years ago through mutual friends. Lewis also got to know him through his nonprofit, 2ndchances.life, which supports people who have been incarcerated.
Every year, he said Medearis donated things like toys, clothes and money for their Christmas fundraiser.
“He was always giving,” Lewis said. “He didn’t talk about it a lot. He always gave, always participated. A lot of his friends are entrepreneurs and they have businesses, and he was always participating and supporting their local business.”
Medearis was playing cards with friends before the shooting — a regular activity for those in the Houston church community, Stevenson said. He said regular churchgoers gather once or twice a month for dinner and card games.
Stevenson hasn’t been attending because of the pandemic, so he didn’t see Medearis there that night. However, he said he never knew Medearis to drink heavily.
When Medearis was pulled over, he was on the phone with a friend from the gathering who was trying to make sure he got home safely, Stevenson said.
The struggle with the officer took place in a parking lot just off the North Freeway, police said. Ramos, a sworn officer since 2013, had asked Medearis to pull off the highway for safety reasons.
Slinkard said Medearis resisted being placed in handcuffs, and “really what turns out to be a quite a violent struggle happened between the officer and the suspect,” he said. The officer discharged his Taser at least once during the altercation, he said.
The officer’s body camera was knocked to the ground during the fight but continued recording, he said. More dashcam footage was available from the officer’s cruiser and possibly from nearby businesses, he said.
Acevedo said he didn’t know whether he could release the full video to family without making it public, thus jeopardizing the investigation.
“The family will have an opportunity at the appropriate time to be able to assess and be able to understand everything that happened to their loved one,” he said.
Acevedo said he’s also heard from community members who say Medearis’ actions, as described by police, were out of the ordinary
“I think the skepticism derives from the behavior that was described … that was not consistent with his history, so I thank God that everything was captured on video so eventually the family and everyone who loved him and ultimately the community can make its own assessment” Acevedo said. “But this one night does not define this individual.”
julian.gill@chron.com
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May 11, 2020 at 10:08AM
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Man killed in officer-involved shooting identified as Houston gospel artist - Houston Chronicle
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