Aiyana Jones was killed nine years ago during a police raid gone wrong and no convictions were made. 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. Was Detroit an outlier or an epicenter? The department was also cited for excessive force after people died in lockup and at the hands of rogue cops. But if it wasnt for them, the city population would have sunk further than it did. They had time, a Detroit police detective told me. Inexplicably, its carcass still stands and burns incessantly. 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. [51] She was buried on the grounds. Was it death by TV? She was seven years old. His weapon fired a single shot, the bullet striking Aiyana in the head and exiting her neck. The grenade landed so close to Aiyana that it burned her blanket. He had been married eight years and had three daughters and a stepson. [25], Chauncey Owens, the suspect who the raid was intended to apprehend and boyfriend of Aiyana's aunt LaKrystal Sanders,[26] was found in the upper-floor apartment of the duplex and surrendered without incident. Aiyana Jones' step aunt Kayia White and step mom Dominique Simpson, right, sit on the front porch next to a blood spattered sofa in Detroit on . [CLICK HERE FOR CHARLIE LEDUFFS EXPOSE ON THE DETROIT AMBULANCE SYSTEM. Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones (July 20, 2002 - May 16, 2010) was a seven-year-old African-American girl from Detroit 's East Side who was shot in the neck and killed by police officer Joseph Weekley during a raid conducted by the Detroit Police Department's Special Response Team targeting a suspect in the apartment a . That year, the police said there were 306 homicidesuntil I began digging. Its police disinformation.. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Jones was born on July 20, 2002, to Charles Jones and Dominika Stanley in Detroit, Michigan. Aiyana was severely burned and then shot in the head and neck by an unidentified police officer standing on the porch. It feels like there aint no love no more.. There are two elementary schools in the area, both in desperate need of a lawnmower and a can of paint. You know? The auto industry allowed for sprawl. The bullet struck Aiyana killing her. Furthermore, the police department and unnamed supervisors of the Special Response Team in the city of Detroit were being sued for violating the civil rights of Aiyana Jones through their training and policy procedure. Both sons now sit in urns on her mantel.Chaise lived on the other side of the Chrysler complex. Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do. "She's not a scapegoat. (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.). A woman was in his car, the motor running. Mayor Dave Bing spoke. There was no note. Seconds after Aiyana's blanket caught fire, the SWAT team stormed through the door, and mistakenly shot Aiyana through the neck, killing her. You might say that the homicide of Aiyana is the natural conclusion to the disease from which she suffered, Schmidt told me. In an attempt to distract the occupants, police fired a flash grenade through the front window of the lower apartment, where Aiyana Jones was sleeping. Fieger alleged a police cover-up. 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. People are awake. David Corn, Noah Lanard, and Dan Friedman. The ACLU report found that only 7% of Swat raids were in hostage or active shooter situations situations that justify such extreme responses and 79% were effectuating search warrants, situations that do not call for Swat interventions. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. 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. Listen on Apple Podcasts. And during our conversation, he referred to himself in the third personGeoffrey Fieger. In 2010 Aiyana MoNay Stanley-Jones, a seven-year-old African American girl, was accidentally shot and killedduring a raid that was conducted by the Detroit,Michigan Police Departments Special Response Team. Dr. Carl Schmidt is the chief medical examiner there. Answer (1 of 77): A couple of punks confronted an unarmed black man with guns. Another cruiser with two officers responded as well. This has helped reinforce a culture shift within police departments. What the hell you doing up here for? But the grandmother says she was lying on the far side of the couch, away from the door. I wouldnt wish this on nobody in the world. There are plenty of good people in Detroit, boosters like to say. Its too late.. You might blame Coleman Youngthe citys first black mayorand his culture of cronyism. As a reporter at the Detroit News, I get plenty of phone calls from people in the neighborhoods. He was shot in the head and killed last year. Then they said he jumped out a back window. [65][unreliable source?] The presence of children in the house was known. The environment didnt affect us none, Jones said. According to reports, seconds after entering the house, Weekley fired the fatal shot. 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. In October, judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter, citing a lack of evidence. Inside, toys, Hannah Montana shoes, and a pyramid of KFC cartons were left to rot. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a. 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. He failed to report. Weekley still is charged with careless discharge of a firearm causing death in the May 2010 shooting, which happened as police executed a search warrant for a murder suspect. I got no money. Soon, the air was the color of a filthy dishrag. Two days later, a crew from the Detroit Police Special Response Team raided Jones' house on Lillibridge Street, blocks from the store. It occurred during a frenzied raid by elite officers who burst through the door to search for a murder. "[27] His trial was scheduled for October[28] and finally took place in June 2013 but resulted in a deadlocked jury. You might blame the UAW, which demanded things like full pay for idle workers, or myopic Big Three management who, instead of saying no, simply tacked the cost onto the price of a car. 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. Gibson bonded out last January and actually showed up for his trial in circuit court on February 17. ME Schmidt ruled it a homicide; the police decided it was a suicide. Detroit Charles Jones,whose role in ahigh school student's 2010 slayinghelped spark thepolice raid that ended with the officer-involved shooting death of his 7-year-old daughter Aiyana Stanley-Jones, has been granted parole. Young Municipal Center in Detroit. On his desk is a bronze bust of Geoffrey Fieger. The story rated three paragraphs in the daily papers, and the media never followed up. My daughter got love, honor, and respect. The Rev. Behind him stood two rookies. But the people of Lillibridge Street still look like theyve been picked up by their hair and dropped from the rooftop. [2], Weekley was a member of Detroit's SWAT team and a frequent subject on the A&E Network (A&E), whose film crews were also filming the investigation for the documentary TV series The First 48. These Wigs Install in Seconds. People involved. The raid took place at about 12:30 a.m. Aiyanas death garnered national attention, including sharp criticism from the Revs. The family of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Detroit police officers, following a raid that led to the death of the child. The sad and confusing circumstances of the murders of JeRean Blake and Officer Huff, both black, robbed Sharpton of some of his customary indignation. The mortician charged $700 for the most basic viewing casket, even though the body was to be cremated. Aiyana Jones settlement On April 4, Attorney Geoffrey Fieger announced that the City of Detroit had agreed to an $8.2 million settlement in the 2010 slaughter of Aiyana Jones, 7, by another joint task force incuding Detroit Police Officer Joseph Weekley during a military-style assault on her grandmother Mertilla Jones' home. Why you looking at me? said Owens, getting off the moped. On the morning of May 16, a Detroit police officer fatally shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in the throat during a police raid on her home. All Rights Reserved. The crumbling houses still crumble. Sheffield came to see Cargill. Owens was convicted of first-degree murderand sentenced to life in prison. Thats one less knucklehead driving around looking to do a drive-by., His approach was successful, with murder dropping more than 20 percent in his first year. Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones, 7, died May 16, 2010 after being shot by an officer during a police raid in Detroit. Rayshard Brooks was a 27-year-old African American restaurant worker who lived in Atlanta. I lingered a moment, backing out while taking it in: the bracelet, the liquor, the blood, the gun, the Ho-Hos, the cheapness of it all. They were conducting a police raid in search of a. 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. The Detroit Free Press has more details here. [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. Once at Aiyanas graveside, Charles Jones released a dove. Weekley claimed Aiyana Jones' paternal grandmother, Mertilla Jones, attempted to slap his MP5 submachine gun, causing it to fire. On a hot afternoon around one Mothers Day, I was working in the back greenhouse. Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $14.95. Predictably, Gibson did not show for his new court date. [5] Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was asleep on the living room sofa in her family's apartment when Detroit police searching for a homicide suspect burst in and an officer's gun went off, fatally . 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. Why would anyone move a gunshot victim, much less toss him in a car? Both trials ended with hung juries. The police were . Within seconds, Weekleyfired hisMP5 rifle, killingAiyana, who was sleeping on the living room couch with her grandmother Mertilla Jones. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. Officer Joseph Weekley, the lead commandowhod been featured before on another A&E show, Detroit SWATburst into the house. Her grandmother, Mertilla Jones, was close by. The slap caused the gun to fire with the bullets striking young Aiyana in the head and killing her instantly. [47], On September 29, Weekley's lawyer asked the judge for a mistrial, citing Mertilla Jones's conduct on the stand the week before. It went straight through the childs head. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? It occurred during a frenzied raid by elite officers who burst through the door to search for a murder suspect after throwing a flash grenade to confuse anyone inside. The problem once the police start amassing these kinds of weapons and tools and absorb a certain mentality, is it just increases the probability that they are going to deploy it even when not warranted, Edwards says. It was 12:40 am on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Other auto plants sprang up on the East Side: Packard, Studebaker, Chryslers Dodge Main. Aiyana was killed when police raided a house to capture a murder suspect. IT WAS JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT on the morning of May 16 and the neighbors say the streetlights were out on Lillibridge Street. Scott said a civil suit had been filed and an appeal made to US attorney general Eric Holder to pursue a case for the violation of Aiyanas civil rights. More than 4,000 people attended Officer Huffs funeral at the Greater Grace Temple on the citys Northwest Side. The man stopped, turned, and pulled a gun. As for the tape that Geoffrey Fieger claimed would show the cops firing on Aiyanas house from outside, A&E turned it over to the police. "(Jones') parole guideline score placed him in the high probability of parole range," Gautz said in an email. There are some 10,000 unsolved homicides dating back to 1960. Weekleys trial began in June 2013 and ended in a mistrial when a jury failed to reach a verdict. The day after Huff was killed, and under fire from the police for her leniency toward Gibson, Judge Hathaway went into the case file and made changes, according to notations made in the courts computerized docket system. Police Chief James Craig stated, "He'll be in a limited duty capacity. She thanked me for coming and showed me her home, which was clean and well kept. He has three boys with Aiyanas mother, Dominika Stanley, and three boys with another woman, whom he had left long ago. Home. Coco Jones has lived many lives. As our Detroit reporter, she is helping us expand our coverage of the economy, politics, and culture in and around the city of Detroit. When I was a teenager, my mother owned a struggling little flower shop on the East Side, not far from where Aiyana was killed. 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