Go ahead, walk in the Detroit River and disappear. But I cant. Weekley claimed after he got through the front door that Joness paternal grandmother, Mertilla Jones, attempted to slap away the MP 5 submachine gun that he was holding. Now, Jones family attorney Geoffrey Fieger and the city of Detroit confirm theyve settled the case for $8.25 million. On January 28, 2015, the remaining charge on Weekley, a misdemeanor for careless discharge of a firearm causing death, was dismissed. Assistant prosecutor Rob Moran told the judge that the misdemeanor was being dropped in the "best interests of justice." On January 28, 2015, a prosecutor cleared Weekley of the last remaining charge against him, ensuring there would not be a third trial. "[21][22], Mertilla Jones said she reached for her granddaughter when the grenade came through the window, not for the officer's gun, because the flash grenade had set the child on fire. But she added: "I hope he does the right thing when he gets outand triesto help these other young Black males out here;tell them about lifeand tell them what he did.". We noticed you have an ad blocker on. ReverendAl Sharpton gave the eulogy. As recently as this week, Fieger said in a press release, thatto date, theCity of Detroithas refused to participate in good faith in any resolution regarding Aiyana's death and continue to deny the family justice. He was shot in the head and killed last year. She was only a baby, man. Stanley suddenly emerged from her stupor: Whats that got to do with it? she hissed. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a. Go. He wore a gold bracelet as thick as a gymnasium rope. They drove her there every morning, five miles. Forbidden by restrictive real estate covenants and racist custom, the blacks were mostly restricted to Paradise Valley, which ran the length of Woodward Avenue. People my mothers age like to tell me about Detroits good old days of soda fountains and shopping markets and lazy Saturday night drives. Some 45,000 abandoned houses pock Detroit. The home was the target of a midnight Swat-style operation designed to arrest her uncle who was living in the apartment upstairs and was the main suspect in the murder of a teenager a couple days before. The mayors office is said to have a copy, as well as the Michigan State Police, who are now handling the investigation. Casei Jones, 32, and her four children Cameron Bowers, 10, Preston Bowers, 5, Mercalli Jones, 2, and Aiyana Jones, 1, were missing for almost a month. The story smelled to high heaven from the beginning. [34][35], Weekley's first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2013. Listen on Apple Podcasts. "It bothers them," she said. The hospital was six miles away. Chauncey Owens, the uncle wanted on murder charges, was said to be going in and out of the house as normal and could have been apprehended during the day. (Thomas Sugrue, in his seminal book The Origins of the Urban Crisis, writes that residents in Detroits predominantly black lower East Side reported 206 rat bites in 1951 and 1952.). The Jones family contends that the shot that killed Aiyana was fired from outside the house, and that the police eventually caught the homicide suspect, Chauncey L. Owens, at a different address . A total, unfortunate fuck-up.. Weekleys trial began in June 2013 and ended in a mistrial when a jury failed to reach a verdict. A good kid with average grades, JeRean went to Southeastern High, which is situated in an industrial belt of moldering Chrysler assembly plants. The frightened black man attempted to save himself. As far-fetched as what happened to the Joneses may sound, they are not . War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing. The Rev. You could blame it on the gas shocks of the 70s that opened the door to foreign car competition. Judge Hathaway emphasized that two juries, in 2013 and 2014, couldn't reach a unanimous verdict. That night, she was murdered by the very people meant to "protect" and "serve" her. Forget what you saw, little man. JeRean knew badness was on its way and called his mother to come pick him up. It's now Monday at 10:30pm. January 30, 2015 / 4:13 PM I asked Fieger if Charles Jones should accept some culpability in his daughters death, considering his alleged role in JeReans murder, the stolen cars found in his backyard, and the fact that his daughter slept on the couch next to an unlocked door. There are two elementary schools in the area, both in desperate need of a lawnmower and a can of paint. [12], Owens was later found guilty of Blake's murder. Not to worry: The city had its own welfare system, decades before Lyndon Johnsons Great Society. Dante Barry, a 26-year-old organizer and executive director of the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, said the outcome of the case was disappointing but not surprising. On Thursday, a settlement was made in the lawsuit that amounted to $8.25 being paid out. City of Detroit Corporation CounselLawrence Garciahas treated the family with utter disrespect and disdain. That was before he canceled a planned press conference to discuss the upcoming case. He computerized daily crime statistics, created a mobile strike force commanded by young and educated go-getters, and dispatched cops to crime hot spots. The programs six-minute sizzle reel begins with Evans dressed in full battle gear in front of the shattered Michigan Central Rail Depot, cradling a semiautomatic rifle and declaring that he would do whatever it takes to take back the streets of Detroit. Im stuck. Officers deployeda "flash bang" grenadeand kicked in the front door, and raid team leader Joseph Weekley led the crewinto the house. The illiteracy, child poverty, and unemployment rates hover around 50 percent. Weekley doesnt have to pay but the family that lost a child has to pay, said Ron Scott, a spokesman for the family, shortly after attending the dismissal hearing. Clutching his juice in one hand and two dollars in the other, JeRean staggered across Mack Avenue and collapsed in the street. Aiyana Stanley-Jones was sleeping in her home on the east side of Detroit on the night of May 16, 2010, when officers barged into the house. The grenade landed so close to Aiyana that it burned her blanket. Why you looking at me? said Owens, getting off the moped. 2) NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND WERE FOUND IN OR OUTSIDE THE HOME OF MERTILLA JONES after the police Special Response Team raid. He has three boys with Aiyanas mother, Dominika Stanley, and three boys with another woman, whom he had left long ago. Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was sleeping on the couch next to her grandmother in their Detroit, Michigan home when a SWAT team threw a flashbang through the window, which landed on her blanket. [2] Her death drew national media attention[3] and led U.S. Representative John Conyers to ask U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for a federal investigation into the incident. His seven-year-old daughter, Aiyana Monay Stanley-Jones (PDF), slept on the couch as her grandmother watched television. The lawsuit charges Rowe[who?] Police officers came from Canada and across Michigan. There are no fewer than two TV dramas, two documentaries, and three reality programs being filmed here. When we look at accountability and an institution that was not designed for black people and that was not designed in the interest of black people, he says, how do you find justice in an already unjust system?. He gives details of the way streets look like at night, and gives a captivating detail of girl's father suffering from insomnia. In this way, what happened to J Cole's daughter? Aiyana Joness funeral was held on May 22, 2010, at the Second Ebenezer BaptistChurch in Detroit where Alfred (Al) Charles Sharpton Jr. gave the eulogy. He came here for publicity. The environment got nothing to do with kids.. Skyscrapers sprang up virtually overnight. Jones, 25, a slight man with frizzy braids, wore a dingy T-shirt. Families of people killed by police officers and activists gathered at the feet of the Spirit of Detroit statue in front of the Coleman A. . And Ive got to say in all my years in the department, Ive never used a flash-bang in a case like this.. We believe today's settlement is fair because it balances the needs of Aiyana's family and our responsibility for the city's finances. The change to "Murder of Aiyana Jones" may have been disputed for good reason, but the current one is both neutral and standard (see Death of Ian Tomlinson). Weekley will not go to a third trial. Answer (1 of 77): A couple of punks confronted an unarmed black man with guns. I went to see Fieger to ask him to show me the tape. You can blame it on the John Deere mechanical cotton-picker of 1950, which uprooted the sharecropper and sent him north looking for a livingwhere he found he was locked out of the factories by the unions. You should go, he said to me, shattering the silence with a wave of his hand. She later explained that she reached for her granddaughter when the grenade came through the window and that is what caused her to hit the officers gun. Outside, Television was watching them. [41] That year, the police said there were 306 homicidesuntil I began digging. Owens sped two blocks back to Lillibridge and gathered up a posse, according to his statement to the police. His seven-year-old daughter, Aiyana Mo'nay Stanley-Jones (PDF), slept on the couch as her grandmother watched television. AS SUMMER DRAGGED on, the story of Aiyana faded from even the regional press. The fire department is little better. Neighbor Paul Jameson, a former soldier whose wife had called in the break-in to 911, said the rookies ran toward the house and opened fire after Huff was shot. He became a horrifying statisticone of 103 kids and teens murdered between January 2009 and July 2010. She arrived too late. Detroit, MI The family of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year old girl shot and killed by a Detroit police officer, has received an $8.25 million settlement almost 9 years after the tragic incident. The little girl in the video was based on a true story, according to MTV.com. Aiyana Stanley-Jones was 7 years old when she was killed by a single bullet to the head. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. Weekley shot Aiyana Stanley-Jones as she slept on a couch in a Detroit home in 2010. Huff entered with his gun still holstered. I have . His weapon fired a single shot, the bullet striking Aiyana in the head and exiting her neck. Aiyana's mother Dominika Stanley, and paternal grandmother Mertilla testified, and both had "emotional outbursts." Oh, stay your ass right here, Owens growled. On May 16, 2010, 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot and killed in her sleep by Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley after he accidentally entered the wrong apartment in an unannounced SWAT team raid. The family of a 7-year-old girl who was fatally shot during a May 2010 police raid is suing the Detroit officer involved in the incident, Detroit News reports.. This happened on Sunday. What the fuck do you think? he said. 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