Police say metro-east teen killed himself at park. His mom thinks they’re wrong
The Highland Police Department has concluded a Highland teen fatally shot himself in a suicide at Silver Lake Park, but the teenager’s mother disagrees.
She believes someone else killed her son.
Damien Zancha’s body was spotted on May 22 by a man walking on a trail at the park, according to a report by the Madison County Coroner’s Office. The 19-year-old’s body was on a dock on Silver Lake and a Taurus 9mm handgun was near his shoulder, the report states. He had one gunshot wound to his head.
Police Chief Carole A. Widman said in a news release Sunday that that case “has been concluded” and that Zancha died “of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This death has been classified as a suicide.”
Dr. Nathaniel Patterson, a forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy, wrote in his June 17 report that “the investigative and autopsy findings are consistent with the injury being self-inflicted and deliberate.”
The teen’s mother, Tiffany Zancha, disagrees with the findings regarding her son’s death, in part, because of a troubling screen shot of texts that were forwarded to her by a friend of her son’s. It included direct threats to Damian Zancha’s life. The News-Democrat saw only screenshots of the alleged texts.
“Ima (expletive) kill Damion (sic) tonight swear by it,” one says.
A later message says “Killing that (racial slur) tonight.” It ends with a heart sign emoji and includes a photo of a knife.
Tiffany Zancha also is concerned that her son’s debit card was used three times on May 23, which was the day after he died.
▪ $42.48 was spent at a Dairy Queen
▪ $9.40 was spent at a BP gas station and $1 was spent at a Shell gas station.
Tiffany Zancha said she is upset with the way the Highland Police Department conducted the investigation and that the department immediately jumped to the conclusion that her son shot himself.
“I don’t know what’s going on with this town,” she said. “I know God will reveal it.”
Widman declined to comment on the specifics of Tiffany Zancha’s criticism, but she said in an interview that the department has “gone above and beyond to make sure this was a thorough and complete investigation and our findings are as same as the coroner’s office in that it was a suicide.”
Along with working with the coroner’s office, the police department also received assistance from an Illinois State Police forensic science laboratory.
In the immediate aftermath of Zancha’s death, rumors about its circumstances swirled in social media.
“Please be advised that we are aware of numerous social media posts regarding this incident,” Widman’s news release stated. “Members of the public are asked to please respect the family during this difficult time. No additional information will be released.”
Mother says Highland wants to preserve image
Tiffany Zancha thinks the Highland Police Department wanted to call Damien Zancha’s death a suicide instead of a homicide in an effort to protect the town’s “pristine” image.
She also said her son had talked about how he wanted to “start a new life in California.”
Tiffany Zancha said she had been in contact with her son on May 21, the day before he died and that he seemed to be his usual self.
She had checked with him to see if he needed a ride to the Madison County Courthouse for a scheduled appearance on May 23. She said he told her that he already had arranged transportation.
Court records show Damien Zancha had a disorderly conduct charge filed against him by Highland on Jan. 7. The records also show he was found guilty on May 23. The charge was dismissed on June 2, however, with records noting that the defendant had died.
Tiffany Zancha also said that Damien visited with his father on May 21 in East St. Louis.
“Since June, the Highland Police Department hasn’t had any communication with me,” she said.
Tiffany Zancha said a private investigator went to the scene and he found a “live round” within 10 minutes.
Coroner’s investigation
Damien Zancha was dropped off at Silver Lake Park about 1:15 a.m. on May 22 by two friends, according to information a Highland police detective gave to an investigator with the Madison County Coroner’s Office.
The friends told the detective that Damien Zancha “was going to be picked up by someone else,” according to the coroner’s office report.
At 2:01 a.m., The police department received 911 calls about “shots fired in the area.” Officers were dispatched but did not find anything, according to the report.
About eight hours later, the coroner’s office received a call from the police department about a suicidal death in the park, which is on the north side of Highland.
Coroner’s investigator Sakina T. Vernor responded with two other investigators from the office and pronounced Zancha dead at the scene at 11:15 a.m.
The handgun found next to the body “was locked open due to all the bullets in the magazine being fired,” according to the report.
Neither a phone nor wallet was found on his body.
The coroner’s office later learned that the police had obtained Zancha’s phone “during interviews” in the investigation and that it appeared he had texted “final goodbye” messages from his cellphone.
Tiffany Zancha said that her son’s wallet has since been located.
The News-Democrat has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the Highland Police Department’s investigative reports on Damien Zancha’s death.
Autopsy findings
Patterson, who conducted the autopsy on May 23 in Springfield, noted there was “soot deposition in the wound tract.”
Tiffany Zancha said while the shot that hit her son apparently was from close range, there is the possibility that “somebody had snuck up on him” and shot him.
One bullet was found in Damien Zancha’s head and was preserved as evidence for the police department.
Patterson’s report states the bullet’s direction was from right to left. The coroner’s report notes investigators learned from Zancha’s grandmother that he was right-handed. He had been living at her home in Highland.
Zancha had marijuana and alcohol in his system, according to Patterson’s report. The blood alcohol concentration was measured at .058%. In Illinois, the legal limit is .08%.
