Second Autopsy Performed on Seneca Teenager

A second autopsy was performed Tuesday on a Seneca man who died July 26 after being shot by a police officer during an undercover drug operation. Police say nineteen year old Zachary Hammond was trying to evade a police stop in the Hardees parking lot on By Pass 123 when he drove toward an officer. According to police, that officer, who has still not been named, felt threatened and fired two shots, hitting the teenager in the upper body. A passenger in the car, 23 year-old Tori Dianna Morton, was charged with simple possession of marijuana. Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis says an autopsy showed Hammond was hit by bullets in the chest and collarbone, with the shot to the chest being fatal. Seneca Police Chief John Covington told an Upstate TV station that Hammond’s car came at an angle to the officer and the officer fired through the driver’s window of the car.  The new autopsy, conducted at Greenville Memorial by Dr. James Fulcher, under the supervision of Chief Medical Examiner Michael Ward, finds Hammond was indeed shot through the open driver’s side window. Ward says the analysis of the shirt Hammond was wearing will be crucial to finding out exactly what happened. Meanwhile, SLED continues to investigate. Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis has recently come under fire from attorney’s representing the Hammond family for using the term “homicide” as his classification of the death. Addis, along with Solicitor Chrissy Adams, notes by definition, homicide is the taking of a life by another, and reiterates that the death of Mr. Hammond is classified as homicide and not murder.