A month after he was mistaken for a car burglar and shot multiple times by police, Lyndo Jones says he has forgiven the officer that shot him.
"He has to answer to God, plain and simple," Jones said from his living room Thursday, just hours after he left the hospital.
Officer Derick Wiley was responding to a report of a vehicle break-in, but Jones was trying to turn off the burglar alarm to his own vehicle when Wiley confronted him. Police said the two men struggled, and Wiley shot Jones.
Jones said his scars are beginning to heal, but the pain has not stopped.
"My insides hurt. I lean over and it gets real tight, my stomach stretching, my ribs, my back, it's hard," he said.
Wiley was fired last week. He was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury Wednesday. Jones criticized Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson's handling of the case. Jones wanted Wiley charged immediately, instead of leaving the decision to the grand jury.
"If I did something wrong, I would have got indicted (immediately). I would have been in jail. My bond would have been set sky-high," he said.
Mesquite Police Chief Charlie Cato said Thursday that Wiley, a 10-year veteran of the department, was the only officer on scene when the two shots were fired.
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He was dismissed for three violations of the department's policies, Cato said. Two of the violations were code of conduct violations on the use of force and conduct unbecoming an officer, while the third violation was a general orders violation on the deadly force policy.
Wiley has appealed his termination.
Along with his scars, Jones says the physical and emotional impact of that night will be with him forever.
"I got to see (the police) outside this door, do you understand?" he said. "I'm scared. I'm scared."
He said his faith, and the loves of his life — his two daughters — keep him going.
"You got people in your corner that are cheering for you, rooting for you," he said. "You're here, you survived. That's a good feeling. And then to see your kids, oh my God, that's a good feeling."
