Tragic just begins to describe the events that ended with an Aurora man fatally shot and his wife seriously wounded last November in a fight over a dinged door on a SUV.
The release last week of 911 tapes of the wounded woman crying for help are a poignant and terrifying postscript to the deadly encounter in the parking lot of a Blockbuster video store.
According to a report by an Arapahoe County grand jury that decided not to issue an indictment, Aaron Davis, 39, was waiting in his Toyota 4Runner while his wife, Benita Coleman-Davis, went into the East Cafe to get Chinese takeout. Denver restaurateur Glenn Eichstedt, 52, dropped off his girlfriend at the cafe to make reservations and parked his Mustang next to Davis’ SUV. As Eichstedt headed for the restaurant, Davis left his vehicle and accused Eichstedt of dinging his door.
Eichstedt denied it, and an argument erupted. Coleman-Davis came out of the restaurant; a verbal exchange deteriorated into pushing and shoving. Davis hit the taller, heavier Eichstedt on the head with a solid metal bar (about 8 to 10 inches long and 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter) several times, eyewitnesses said. At least three witnesses testified Coleman-Davis also had struck Eichstedt. Doctors said Eichstedt had several head wounds, including one about 4 inches long that required 15 to 30 stitches to close.
Eichstedt, who later told police he feared Davis was going to “bash his brains in,” pulled a .38 revolver that he was licensed to carry and fired four times. He hit Davis twice, and hit Coleman-Davis, who was standing behind her husband, twice. Eichstedt said he didn’t intend to shoot Coleman-Davis.
Eichstedt claims he had tried to walk away but Davis followed him. In retrospect, perhaps Eichstedt should have shown more forbearance, remained cool and kept walking. Likewise, Davis shouldn’t have resorted to violence. Because Eichstedt is white and Davis and Davis-Coleman are black, some community leaders view the tragedy and the grand jury’s decision not to indict as racially tinged. But according to witnesses, no racial slurs were uttered.
We can’t fathom or condone the kind of rage that would cause one human being to beat another with a metal rod over a dent in a door. But neither can we forget the horror in the wounded Benita Coleman-Davis’ voice as she cries out to a 911 operator: “My husband … We’re dying! … We’re dying! Come now!”
Her haunting words are a reminder of how rage can escalate a trivial incident into one with horrific consequences.
