Darius Tarver

Darius Tarver, 23, a University of North Texas criminal justice student and member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement, was shot and killed by a Denton, Texas police officer on January 21, 2020, outside his apartment. Just a week earlier, Tarver had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash and been released from the ICU; his family said he began exhibiting significant mental impairment afterward. His roommate called police for help after Tarver barricaded himself in his room, muttering about God and light. Body camera video showed him holding a frying pan and a large knife when four officers arrived; after he was Tased twice without effect and continued to advance, one officer opened fire. A Denton County grand jury declined to indict the officer, whose name was never publicly released, in March 2021. An internal department review separately found no policy violations. No one has ever been charged in Tarver's death.

Denton, TX · Denton County

• 2020: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Tarver's traumatic brain injury the week before, his roommate's 911 call for help, and the shooting itself, per Denton Police Department body camera footage and public statements.
• Four officers responded to the scene; Tarver was Tased twice without apparent effect before an officer fired the fatal shots as he advanced holding a frying pan and knife, per police accounts of the body camera footage.
• Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon stated at a March 2020 news conference that officers were "clearly under threat" and suggested Tarver may have been under the influence of drugs; Tarver's family disputed that account, attributing his behavior to the brain injury.
• A Denton County grand jury declined to indict the involved officer, whose identity police never publicly released, on March 18, 2021 — 14 months after the shooting.
• Denton's internal affairs investigation concluded the officers followed department training, procedures, and policy given the totality of the circumstances, and no officer faced any disciplinary action.
• Following Tarver's death, the Denton Police Department created a dedicated mental health response division, which his father, a police chaplain in a neighboring city, said was a positive but insufficient outcome.
• A petition organized by Tarver's father calling for criminal charges, an independent special prosecutor, and a Department of Justice investigation gathered nearly 200,000 signatures.

• Whether Tarver's continued advance after being Tased twice reflected the imminent threat the department maintained, or a disoriented reaction consistent with a recent traumatic brain injury, as his family argued, was never tested at any criminal trial.
• Why the involved officer's identity has never been publicly released, even after the grand jury and internal investigation both concluded, is not explained in available public reporting.
• Whether responding officers had specific crisis-intervention training for encounters involving a recent traumatic brain injury, as opposed to general mental health crisis training, has not been detailed publicly.

• The Dallas Morning News — “Denton officer won't face charges in fatal shooting of UNT student Darius Tarver”
• Dallas Observer — “Denton Police Who Killed Darius Tarver Won't be Charged, Sparking Outrage”
• WFAA — “Denton officer who fatally shot Darius Tarver won't face disciplinary action, department says”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs