Even Time bought a house on the East Side last year for $99,000. Were going to pull people over for traffic violations and were going to take their cars if theyre not legal. The sad and confusing circumstances of the murders of JeRean Blake and Officer Huff, both black, robbed Sharpton of some of his customary indignation. [49], Aiyana Jones' funeral was held in the Second Ebenezer Church on May 22, 2010 in Detroit. People call it police brutality. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. Thats when Owens, 34, pulled up on a moped. Her parents say they hope Aiyana will be remembered as more than a symbol of heightened tension in a city in crisis. Oddly enough, that's what supposedly happened to a beautiful 7-year-old girl named Aiyana Jones. But I would be doing Aiyana a disservice if we just vented instead of dealing with the real problems., He went on: This child is the breaking point.. While other American metropolises have gotten control of their murder rate, Detroits remains where it was during the crack epidemic. Inside, splayed on the floor underneath the rack of snack cakes near the register, was a black man in a pool of blood. The dismissal was at the request of Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy, who called the decision, which by law cannot be appealed, unfortunate. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Still, as the American middle class collapses, its worth perhaps remembering that the East Side of Detroitthe place where Aiyana, JeRean, and Officer Huff all diedwas once its industrial cradle. It would also help inspire the creation of the Black Lives Matter Movementthree years later. [36] Aiyana's case would be the longest presiding case that Hathaway had in more than 20 years of being on the bench. February 24, 2023. January 30, 2015 / 4:13 PM Juries twice failed to reach a verdict in Weekleys case, first in June 2013 and then in October 2014. Police officers came from Canada and across Michigan. In October, judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter, citing a lack of evidence. You might point to the trade agreements of the Clinton years, which allowed American manufacturers to leave the country by the back door. He came here for publicity. Coco Jones has lived many lives. 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 . Even the beavers have returned.The daughter of an autoworker and a home nurse, McNeal grew up in the promise of the black middle class that Detroit once offered. 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. A minute later, a friend took the two dollars as a keepsake. They went hog wild. Weekley left the courtroom through a private door. [30], Allison Howard, a videographer and photographer with A&E who was also present at the raid, was indicted on obstruction of justice and perjury for allegedly "copying, showing or giving video footage that she shot of the raid to third parties". Over 10 years ago, Detroit police executed a nighttime raid at a home on the city's east side in search of a murder suspect. Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. For community members and advocates, the bigger question is why a Swat team was deployed in the first place. I get no sleep. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and A reality TV crew recorded the scene from the street. [5] Chaises mother, Britta McNeal, 39, sat on the porch staring blankly into the distance, smoking no-brand cigarettes. 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?. I went to see Fieger to ask him to show me the tape. Police report that they arrested the suspect at the duplex where the . Responding to a breaking-and-entering and shots-fired call at 3:30 a.m., Officer Brian Huff, a 12-year veteran, walked into that dark house. Weve got nothing but bullet fragments., A neighbor who tends the lawn in front of the dope house out of respect to Huff wonders why so many cops came in the first place, given that the police hardly come around at all, much less that many cops that fast on a home break-in.. Predictably, Gibson did not show for his new court date. [2], After the shot was fired, Weekley reported to his sergeant that a woman inside had grabbed for his gun. What occurred next has been disputed by police officers, bystanders, and neighboring residents. Sarah Cwiek joined Michigan Radio in October 2009. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It was 2:40 in the afternoon on May 14 when JeRean went to the Motor City liquor store and ice-cream stand to get himself an orange juice to wash down his McDonalds. DETROITS EAST SIDE is now the poorest, most violent quarter of Americas poorest, most violent big city. Im not representing the father; Im speaking for the daughter. He also pointed out that while Jones remains a person of interest in JeReans murder, he has not been arrested. Weekley, who retired from the police department in 2019,claimed Mertilla Jones grabbed his rifle, causing it to discharge. In Chief Evans defense, he seemed to understand one thing: After the collapse of the car industry and the implosion of the real estate bubble, there is little else Detroit has to export except its misery. "But I can tell you this: If anyone is looking for a scapegoat for justice, then you've got one here as owner, coach and quarterback. Aiyana was severely burned and then shot in the head and neck by an unidentified police officer standing on the porch. I was thinking that, she said with tears. A bunch of lazy, uneducated blue-collar incompetents. IT WAS JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT on the morning of May 16 and the neighbors say the streetlights were out on Lillibridge Street. Once at Aiyanas graveside, Charles Jones released a dove. An 11th-grade dropout and convicted robber, he said he supported his seven children with a little this, a little thatI got a few tricks and trades.. My daughter got love, honor, and respect. Weekley claimed his gun accidentally went off as he struggled with the girls grandmother, Mertilla Jones. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. DETROIT - At the prosecutor's request, a judge on Friday dismissed the last charge against a Detroit police officer who fatally shot a 7-year-old girl during a raid. I am sick as hell. What does the science say about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic? War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing. . The conceit of the show is that homicide detectives have 48 hours to crack a murder case before the trail goes cold. Young Municipal Center in Detroit. "[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. On January 28, 2015, a prosecutor cleared Weekley of the last remaining charge against him, ensuring there would not be a third trial. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. They were conducting a police raid in search of a murder suspect who lived at that address -- and being filmed for a reality TV show in the process -- when Officer Joseph Weekley accidentally fired his gun. And there are. The little girl in the video was based on a true story, according to MTV.com. In Los Angeles, by comparison, the unsolved-murder rate is 22 percent. To me, thats like writing about the surf conditions in the Gaza Strip. Family: 7-year-old shot by police was asleep. But JeRean never went to prom, much less the Afghanistan theater, because he couldnt clear the killing fields of Detroit. Weekley stated, "A woman inside grabbed my gun. He was shot in the head and killed last year. Except there aint no job. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. From all indications it appears that police operation were flawed and heavily influenced by camera crews who were filming the raid for A&E's crime show "The First 48," according to a published report. 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. She was seven years old. Thats five times as many as New York, in a city one-tenth the size. The store bell jingled its little requiem as I pulled the door open. Lord Jesus, I ain't never seen nothing like that in my life."--Mertilla Jones, Aiyana's grandmother. [2], After a one-year internal and federal investigation, on October 4, 2011, a grand jury indicted Weekley on involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment with a gun. What did? [12] Weekley had been featured on another A&E police reality show, Detroit SWAT. I called the fire department to ask for its statistics. Horace Sheffield, a local version of Sharpton, got stiffed for $4,000 in funeral costs, claiming Aiyanas father made off with the donations people gave to cover it. I know society looks at a person like me and wants me to go away, she said. "(Jones is) the one who gave (Owens) the gun to kill their brother. They made it to the trauma ward, where JeRean was pronounced dead. [58] Michigan State Police Detective Tawana Powell testified during the 2014 trial that the investigation discovered that the video Fieger was talking about did not exist. She denied grabbing the weapon. They were restless and agitated and pulled at the collars of dress blues that didnt seem to fit. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. A thousand people attended, as did the predictable plump of media. Aiyana Stanley-Jones was seven years old and asleep on a couch with her grandmother when Detroit police raided their east side home looking for a murder suspect in 2010. "It's irking me so bad," Cargill said. Jones was born on July 20, 2002, to Charles Jones and Dominika Stanley in Detroit. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, though his heart did not seem to be in it. They turned on the lights and saw that she had been shot.. In the witness box in September, Jones said: Im laying there screaming, asking someone to help my granddaughter because he shot her in the head. Jones new family had been on the drift for the past few years as he tried to pull it together. Owens switched his moped for a Chevy Blazer. When I called the head of the homicide bureau and explained the situation, he told me, Oh yeah? Charlie LeDuff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, filmmaker, and multimedia reporter. Why would anyone move a gunshot victim, much less toss him in a car? They had time, a Detroit police detective told me. Lil James brought along a .357 Magnumat the behest of Jones, Detective Williams testified, because Jones was afraid someone would try to steal his diamond Cartier glasses.. Fieger responded by saying he does not have the supposed video,[57] which he claims was made by the A&E Network reality show The First 48. Jarrette Jones and Iyanna McNeely. In this shit, a one-year-old played next door, barefoot. A dollhouse sits in an empty lot not far from where Aiyana was shot by the police officers storming her home.It was a total fuck-up, the official said. WHat actually happened to this little girl? Jones, too, later became a person of interest in JeReans murderhe allegedly went along for the ridebut Jones denies it, and hes lawyered up and moved to the suburbs. Recorded the scene from the street the conceit of the homicide bureau and explained the situation, he has been... Crack epidemic for its statistics first place patients ' jaws a minute later, a Detroit police detective told.... Stated, `` a woman inside grabbed my gun inside grabbed my gun dollars a... Rifle, causing it to the trauma ward, where JeRean was dead. Team was deployed in the head of the Black Lives Matter Movementthree years later in Detroit when i called fire... The girls grandmother, Mertilla Jones eulogy, though his heart did not seem to in! 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