Detroit cop to go on trial in May for killing seven- year-old
By YourBlackWorld
Detroit cop Joseph Weekley will go on trial in May for fatally shooting seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones during a 2010 raid. Weekley is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm.
Officer Weekley was with a reality TV crew when he shot inside the Detroit home, killing Aiyana. Weekley’s story has reportedly changed several times since the incident. First he said the girl’s grandmother was struggling for his gun, which caused it to misfire. Then he said the gun went off because someone brushed up against him. But Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, says she never came in contact with any of the police officers.
On Friday, a judge in the case denied a motion to dismiss the charge and set a trial date for May 29.
Outside the courthouse, supporters of Aiyana’s family shouted ”Justice for Aiyana! Justice for Aiyana!”
“It shouldn’t have taken this long,” said Ron Scott, of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. ”Why don’t they try everybody that stormed that house that night?”
Aiyana’s father is accused of providing the gun that Chauncey Owens, the target of the raid, used to kill 17-year-old Je’Rean Blake.
Weekley had reportedly also been under investigation for an incident where his team killed two dogs and pointed guns at children.
Weekley was indicted in 2011.
