The Davy V. Blog: Suicidal Man Having Mental Health Crisis Who Was Executed by Trigger-Happy Monroe County, NY Sheriff Deputies Was "Profoundly Deaf"

MCSO Sheriff Chief Deputy Michael Fowler

By Davy V.

Rochester, New York, located in Monroe County, New York has the largest per-capita deaf and hard of hearing population in the United States.

And, Rochester, New York is home to two highly renowned institutions for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Rochester School for The Deaf, and National Institute for The Deaf (NTID), which is part of R.I.T. (Rochester Institute of Technology).

Despite this, the Monroe County, New York Sheriff's Office does not mandate that their deputies know sign language.

Simply put, in a County, where there is an estimated deaf population between 15,000 and 40,000 people, Monroe County, New York Sheriff Deputies don't need to know sign language.

Gregory Kase

On Sunday August 9, 2026, two Monroe County, NY Sheriff Deputies responding to the Super 8 Motel, in Henrietta, NY, just outside of Rochester, for a call of a male with a box cutter, threatening to harm himself, opened fire on the suicidal mentally-ill man, 62-year old Gregory Kase, executing him.

Despite Monroe County, New York Sheriff Office Chief Deputy Michael Fowler saying both of his deputies did have non-lethal options that they could have used.

Like the late Reverend Raymond Graves, who for years worked side by side with my Dad Mario Vara in Rochester, New York speaking out and denouncing police misconduct including the execution of citizens by trigger happy cops, used to say, oftentimes police officers don't shoot because they have to shoot, they shoot because they want to shoot.

And now, new information has come out, which makes this senseless execution of a suicidal man who was experiencing a mental health crisis, even more disturbing.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kase's widow against the Monroe County, New York Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Todd Baxter, and the two Deputies who executed Kase, states the 62-year old was "profoundly deaf".

"Mr. Kase was totally deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other. He wore a single hearing aid. Even wearing that hearing aid, and even seated beside a person speaking to him, he could hear and understand speech only if he was facing the speaker and able to read the speaker's lips, and he routinely required a raised voice and two or three repetitions. When he could not hear, he habitually raised his hand toward his ear. He startled when touched, or when approached from behind or from a direction he was not facing."

In the body-cam video which the Monroe County, New York Sheriff's Office finally released, and which you can see on DavyVTV YouTube channel, (LINK BELOW), it's clear that Gregory Kase has trouble hearing the Monroe County Sheriff Deputies, before they open fire on him, executing him.