For Brenda Howerton and many residents of Greensboro’s Phillips Avenue, Sept. 8, 1994, will always be etched in their hearts as “A Day of Pain.”On the sixth anniversary of the death of Brenda Howerton’s son and former A&T student Daryl Howerton, the square across from the T.V. Barber Shop hosted a memorial and protest. Both black and white citizens came to the site to share their feelings about the issue of police brutality around the city and the state.Among the memorial’s highlights, speeches were made by Brenda Howerton and Faith Community Church pastor and Pulpit Forum leader, the Rev. Nelson Johnson. In Brenda Howerton’s opening remarks, she held to the same position that she had on that day six years ago. “I will forever call it murder,” she said.Members of the Greensboro-based organization “CopWatch” were out to support the cause. They flagged down traffic to give out newspapers illustrating instances of shootings and injustices by police across the state and nation. The group held up numerous signs that demanded the end of police violence. Although this was a peaceful event, the emotions of the crowd made it clear that this ceremony was not enough to provide closure for the incident six years ago.This is what happened on Sept. 8, 1994, according to newspaper reports:Nineteen-year-old Daryl Howerton was distraught over the death of his older brother one year earlier. His friends had been concerned when he began to act erratically. Daryl Howerton was wandering around Phillips Avenue carrying a knife and wearing nothing but a toboggan and sunglasses. He walked into T.V.’s Barber Shop and began mumbling about a “suicide mission.” Soon, Greensboro Police Officers Jose’ Blanco and Charles Fletcher arrived and demanded that Howerton drop the knife. When he didn’t, the officers sprayed Howerton with Mace to subdue him, but the chemical did not seem to affect him. Blanco and Fletcher fatally shot him when they said he lunged at a bystander with the knife. The shooting happened within 42 seconds of the officer’s arrival.Four years later, Brenda Howerton filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Blanco and Fletcher for unlawfully causing Daryl Howerton’s death. The nine-day trial concluded with the jury ruling in favor of the officers In November 1998, Brenda Howerton filed a notice of appeal in federal court in the wrongful death lawsuit she lost against Blanco and Fletcher. She asked the court to grant a new trial because she believed that the first trial was not fair. Along with the testimonies and evidence that were not allowed, the appeal noted, the jury was not diverse enough.This past May, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the officers”There’s nothing we can go into the courts with at this point,” said Brenda Howerton. “The community has to continue to raise up this issue.” Last year, the Rev. Nelson Johnson attempted to persuade the Greensboro City Council to approve a $1 million settlement for Howerton and the creation of an independent police review board. He gave the council a report, “The Daryl Howerton Case and The Struggle for Life, Justice and Democracy,” which outlined the Pulpit Forum’s interpretation of the case and a three-point proposal to the City Council. The document proved not to be enough to sway the city council. On June 7, the city council rejected a police review board by a 6-3 vote. Instead, the city voted to better publicize existing procedures for lodging complaints. This allows residents to launch complaints to the city’s Human Relations department. Since this case, there have been some improvements in the way that the Greensboro Police Department handles potentially mentally ill subjects. A Mental Health Crisis Response Team has been formed to enhance officer training in how to deal with mentally ill subjects. Brenda Howerton remains skeptical about this program. “The police would do damage before they call Mental Health,” she saidThe death of Daryl Howerton is still a sensitive issue around the city. Six years after the incident, the question remains, could the officers have used an alternative method to subdue Howerton? And six years later, there are still conflicting views. In the mind of Police Chief Robert White, the situation was handled in the best possible manner. “It was a very tragic situation but I feel comfortable in the way that the two officers handled it,” said White. White also feels like the records of the courts speaks for themselves. “Those two officers went through the entire judicial process and have been completely exonerated,” said White. However, Brenda Howerton feels the police could have used some other method: “Absolutely, she says, He was no harm to anyone.”His mother still questions if Daryl Howerton was mentally ill at the time. According to the trial statements, he did suffer from a mental illness but his mother sees it differently. “He didn’t suffer from mental illness. He had an emotional upset due to dealing with the death of his older brother,” she said. “He was in distress; he wasn’t a mental case.”