DA dismisses domestic violence charge against former Waco police officer

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office has dismissed domestic violence charges against a former Waco police officer who was arrested in April on allegations he assaulted his wife.

Waco police officials fired DeChriston Devante McKinney, 32, in May, a month after his arrest on aggravated assault-family violence charges and following an internal police investigation.

Police alleged at the time that McKinney, who was indicted in June, threatened to shoot his wife and dragged her across their home in McGregor during an argument.

In the motion to dismiss the case, the DA’s office wrote that the evidence is insufficient to support the offense charged and that McKinney’s wife, referred to as the “complaining witness,” is “adamant” about dismissing the case.

McKinney’s attorney, Abel Reyna, said Friday that there were a number of questionable things about the investigation, including the allegation that McKinney threatened his wife with a gun. Reyna said McKinney wasn’t wearing his police uniform at the time and was not carrying a gun.

He said those accusations, which were included in a police affidavit to secure his arrest, are “totally false.”

“The dismissal of the case does not erase the embarrassment and stress suffered by my client as a result of a subpar investigation,” Reyna said. “However, it does allow him to move forward with his life and continue to be the upstanding citizen he has always been.”

Despite the family violence accusations, Reyna said he thinks McKinney, a standout basketball player at LaVega High School, McLennan Community College and Arkansas Tech who played professionally overseas, can salvage his law enforcement career, if that is what he chooses to do.

Before he was an officer, McKinney coached at Vanguard College Preparatory School in Waco and worked as player development director at Midway High School.

According to court documents, Waco school district police received a report of a domestic dispute involving a Waco ISD employee and her husband, a Waco police officer.

The alleged victim, along with her mother, reported that she and McKinney got into an argument March 26 at their McGregor home.

She told police McKinney greeted their children after getting home and she joked with him as the two went to the bathroom together.

An argument broke out in the bathroom, which the affidavit alleges was about infidelity in the relationship. That reportedly led to McKinney placing his hand on the gun on his hip and threatening to shoot her, according to arrest records.

She told police she did not fear injury or death and believed McKinney was frustrated about the argument, the affidavit states.

The alleged victim, according to the affidavit, said the argument escalated with McKinney punching holes in the wall and grabbing their daughter’s “hair box” and throwing it, scattering multiple items across the bathroom.

McKinney’s wife reported he grabbed her by the shirt, pulled her off the toilet and started dragging her from the bathroom to the front door, the affidavit alleges.

After dragging her to the front door, McKinney threw her keys across the room and told her to leave the house, the affidavit states.

The alleged victim said she immediately left the house and went to her sister’s, where she called McGregor police, the affidavit states.

After waiting for a response, she said she went back to her home to get her children and some clothes so they could stay the night elsewhere, according to the affidavit.

When she arrived back at the home, the alleged victim said McKinney was talking to his stepmother on the phone and seemed calm, the affidavit states.

The woman said she was able to get her kids out of the house without any issue and that both children witnessed the incident.

When asked if she felt pain during or after the incident, the woman said she initially was scared and “blacked out,” but reported some soreness in her right shoulder, the affidavit alleges.

She said she may have scraped her knee while being dragged by McKinney, the affidavit states.

A Waco ISD officer, according to the affidavit, photographed both areas and didn’t see any markings or discoloration on the victim’s shoulder but did notice small scrapes on her left knee that he said seemed consistent with her statement.

According to the affidavit, McGregor police went to Waco ISD a few days later to interview her about the incident. She declined to provide a statement and told officers she didn’t want to press charges because she and McKinney were “going to try to work it out.”

When asked by officers if McKinney threatened her with a firearm, she said yes, according to arrest records.

The woman, however, said she was not in fear for her life and did not believe McKinney would harm her, adding that he never took the gun out of the holster, the affidavit states.

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