The flower shop is just a pile of bricks now, but despite what the Arab told me, I did not forget what I saw. Weekley insisted he accidentally pulled the trigger during a struggle with Aiyana's grandmother. He was formerly a reporter for The Detroit News. The radio was tuned to NPR and A Prairie Home Companion came warbling out of my speakers. A slender, pimply faced kid, JeRean was not an intimidating figure. [12], Owens was later found guilty of Blake's murder. She said she made no contact with any officers. Over the next 50 years, Detroits East Side would become the worlds machine shop, its factory floor. AP Photo/The Detroit News, John T. Greilick, How Alaska became one of fentanyl's deadliest frontiers, Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect, Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. The Detroit Free Press has more details here. She denied grabbing the weapon. And TV may have needed some pyrotechnics. They had time, a Detroit police detective told me. In tow was an A&E crew filming an episode of The First 48, its true-crime program. It would also help inspire the creation of the Black Lives Matter Movementthree years later. Even if you check the TT's of each city Aiyana is nowhere to . Outside, Television was watching them. In the process, the gun belonging to police officer Joseph Weekley . Editors note: On October 4, 2011, following a yearlong investigation by the Michigan state police, Officer Weekley was charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm. Oh, stay your ass right here, Owens growled. Killing of Aiyana Jones. When I was a teenager, my mother owned a struggling little flower shop on the East Side, not far from where Aiyana was killed. David Corn, Noah Lanard, and Dan Friedman. For Aiyana, it's the irony of the portrait circulating the Web: The smiling 7-year-old in her freshest plaits and multicolored barrettes, literally surrounded by a trifecta of white Disney princesses-blonde Cinderella, brunette Snow White and redhead Ariel, the Little Mermaid. Detroit has since made little progress on the federal consent decree. I asked him if the way he was raising his daughter, the people he exposed her to, or the neighborhood where they livedwith its decaying houses and liquor storesmay have played a role. Evans driver dropped him with a single shot. The accident has led to outrage in Detroit, directed at police. It was Jameson who finally dragged Huff out of the house and gave him CPR in the driveway, across the street from the Boys & Girls Club. [6][7][8] January 30, 2015 / 4:13 PM I get no sleep. Other auto plants sprang up on the East Side: Packard, Studebaker, Chryslers Dodge Main. Police officers came from Canada and across Michigan. The family is seeking $7.5 million in damages and a jury trial conceded by the court filing. Final charges against Joseph Weekley, a police officer who shot dead a 7-year-old girl, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, in Detroit in May 2010, were dismissed on Friday, leaving a family bereft and raising serious concern among national groups over an increasingly militarized police force. One witness had him pegged for 13 years old. Fugitive in $18 million COVID fraud scheme extradited to U.S. ended without verdicts on a charge of reckless use of a gun. Officer Joseph Weekley, the lead commandowhod been featured before on another A&E show, Detroit SWATburst into the house. Suddenly, Detroit was historic, symbolichip, even. But the fact is Detroit and its suburbs were dying 40 years ago. While a thousand people mourned the tragic death of Aiyana, the body of JeRean Blake Nobles sat in a refrigerator at a local funeral parlor; his mother was too poor to bury him herself and too respectful to bury him until after the little girls funeral, anyhow. Im trying to find him, Sheffield complained. It was all for the cameras. In Detroit, only 1 in 3 kids will graduate from high school. There are at least 50 corpses on hold in his morgue cooler, some unidentified, others whose next of kin are too poor to bury them. Jones was arrested, and though she was quickly released it was not before she and two other family members Aiyanas parents had been forced to sit in their childs blood for hours, Scott said. 2) NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND WERE FOUND IN OR OUTSIDE THE HOME OF MERTILLA JONES after the police Special Response Team raid. There is speculation that the attending television crew may have increased the incentive for a glamorised, military-style operation. They killed a child and then they lied about it.. It would be easy to lay the blame on McNeal for the circumstances in which she raised her sons. 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. Owens didn't like the way the Southeastern High School teen had looked at him, according to court testimony. 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. The mortician charged $700 for the most basic viewing casket, even though the body was to be cremated. 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 Jones was a seven year old girl living in Detroit, who was killed by the police while sleeping in her own home. Jones was born on July 20, 2002, to Charles Jones and Dominika Stanley in Detroit. On Thursday, a settlement was made in the lawsuit that amounted to $8.25 being paid out. It went straight through the childs head. Even on Lillibridge Street, the outrage has died down. There are some 10,000 unsolved homicides dating back to 1960. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. Inexpensive, too! It's been a year since 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Joneswas killed by members of a Detroit Special Response team. Owens sped two blocks back to Lillibridge and gathered up a posse, according to his statement to the police. Cargill said because of COVID-19 restrictions, she was unable to attend Jones' parole hearings to contest his release. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway address the court on Friday. "It isn't the judge's decisions that caused these juries to not reach a decision," she said. It feels like there aint no love no more.. Forbidden by restrictive real estate covenants and racist custom, the blacks were mostly restricted to Paradise Valley, which ran the length of Woodward Avenue. The whole country knew it, and the whole country laughed. He admitted in his first trial that, "It's my gun that shot and killed a 7-year-old girl. I got something for you.. A good kid who showed neighborhood children how to work electric clippers, his dream was to open a barbershop. Mertilla Jones was held overnight by Detroit police and then released. On May 14, 2010, JeRean Blake, a senior at Southeastern High School of Technology and Law was shot and killed near an intersection on Detroits east side. She thanked me for coming and showed me her home, which was clean and well kept. February 24, 2023. 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.. Police first floated the story that Aiyanas grandmother had grabbed Weekleys gun. 3) Weekley's claims that Mertilla Jones grabbed . As Detroit led the nation in median income and homeownership, automation and foreign competition were forcing companies like Packard to shutter their doors. The official version was that two men were walking in the middle of a street on the East Side when Evans and his driver told them to walk on the sidewalk. These girls are the lucky ones. Many are as fucked up and sad as Aiyanas. The family of Aiyana Jones, the 7-year-old girl accidentally killed by a Detroit police officer during a raid in 2010, has reached settlement with the city o. One year after a Detroit police assault team shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones to death in her home while A&E's "First 48" TV show was filming, neither Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy nor U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has brought charges against those responsible. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. It was a sweatbox, and I went across the street to the liquor store for a soda pop. Specifically, since 1997 a 1033 program has enabled the transferring of billions of dollars worth of military equipment from the Department of Defense including mine-resistant protected vehicles originally developed by the South African defence force to thousands of small American communities. 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids
held a small rally in memory of Jones. So bad is the rivalry that when the schools face off to play football or basketball, spectators from the visiting team are banned. Weekleys trial began in June 2013 and ended in a mistrial when a jury failed to reach a verdict. Jones broke down during testimony and had to be escorted out amid sobbing after addressing Weekley who was also in the courtroom directly. Its about state-sanctioned violence., US police departments are increasingly militarised, finds report, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. She later went to nursing school but got sidetracked by her own health problems. He was charged twice with involuntary manslaughter, but both cases ended in mistrials. I dont want no apology from no police. I think its one of the lowest things I have ever seen.. Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley stands in judge Cynthia Hathaways courtroom in Detroit, in June 2013. 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. He might have smirked. [12], According to press reports, police were on the scene by 12:40a.m. on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Another cruiser with two officers responded as well. Was Aiyana's legal last name "Jones", "Stanley Jones", or "Stanley-Jones"? Sherrors was killed by a stray bullet while cutting a friends hair on a front porch just 27 days after JeRean died. Was it inevitable, as the doctor said, that abject poverty would lead to Aiyanas death and so many others? The city provided clothing, fuel, rent, and $10 every week to adults for food; children got $5. Outside, three men were loading the boiler, tubs, and sinks into a trailer to take to the scrap yard. To avoid the embarrassment of being the nations perpetual murder capital, the police department took to cooking the homicide statistics, reclassifying murders as other crimes or incidents. Instead of being protected, communities are treated like the enemy, the report found with a disproportionate effect on communities of color. He had been married eight years and had three daughters and a stepson. Thats good news until you realize that in Detroit, some 500 fires are set every single month. Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Vanessa Bryant, family settles claims over Kobe crash site photos for $28.5M. [12] She was one of three children of the couple and had four halfsiblings. [23] At Weekley's retrial in 2014, it was disclosed that Mertilla's fingerprints were not found on Weekley's gun. It just goes on, she said. A total, unfortunate fuck-up.. AP Photo Charles Jones, the father of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones, who was killed early Sunday in Detroit, holds a photo of Aiyana in attorney Geoffrey Fieger's office in Southfield, Mich., Tuesday . 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. When I called the head of the homicide bureau and explained the situation, he told me, Oh yeah? A man called me once to say he had witnessed a murder, but the police refused to take his statement. On January 28, 2015, the remaining charge on Weekley, a misdemeanor for careless discharge of a firearm causing death, was dismissed. [5] Wayne County Circuit Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway presided over the case. You could blame it on the gas shocks of the 70s that opened the door to foreign car competition. The manslaughter trial was declared a mistrial. What the fuck do you think? he said. He gave her $800 for funeral costs. They were restless and agitated and pulled at the collars of dress blues that didnt seem to fit. We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget. As it turns out, he was filming a pilot for his own reality show, entitled The Chief. 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. With Chief Evans vacationing overseas with a subordinate, Fieger ran wild, holding a press conference where he claimed he had seen videotape of Officer Weekley firing into the house from the porch. The kids are dropping like flies and hes got nothing but useless words., CHECK OUT A SLIDESHOW OF ABANDONED HOUSES ON ONE BLOCK IN DETROIT, join us with a tax-deductible donation today. So is the house across the street. Her parents say they hope Aiyana will be remembered as more than a symbol of heightened tension in a city in crisis. One year later, Aiyana Stanely Jones investigation mired in delays", "Homicide suspect hunted in raid that led to Aiyana's death is charged", "Man sentenced to life in prison for Detroit teen's death", "DPD officer involved in Aiyana Jones shooting identified", "Police, family look for answers in girl's death in Detroit", "How A Police Officer Shot A Sleeping 7-Year-Old To Death", "Detroit Police Officer Charged in Shooting Death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones", "Michigan Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal in Weekley Case", "Slain girl's family alleges police cover-up", "Grandmother's fingerprints, DNA not found on Officer Weekley's submachine gun", "Officer whose bullet reportedly killed Aiyana Jones was frequently featured on A&E", "Mayor: Detroit doesn't know 'how to stop' killings", "Detroit police officer who shot 7-year-old returns to job after half decade on leave", "Joseph Weekley, Detroit Police Officer, Charged In Aiyana Stanley-Jones' Death During 'The First 48' Raid", "Cop Who Shot 7-Year-Old To Death Will Be Retried", "Second trial to begin today for officer in Aiyana's death", "A&E 'The First 48' producer who filmed Aiyana Jones shooting admits to obstructing justice", "Photographer pleads no contest to obstruction of justice in Aiyana Stanley-Jones case", "Videographer pleads in fatal Detroit police raid", "Videographer in fatal police raid gets probation", "Videographer in Aiyana Stanley-Jones raid gets 2 years of probation", "Judge declares mistrial in Aiyana case after jurors fail to reach verdict", "No more retrials, Aiyana's Family pleads", "In cop's retrial, attorneys at odds over how girl died", "Emotional 'show' put on by grandmother of slain 7-year-old Aiyana Jones not grounds for mistrial, judge says", "Detroit police officer back on trial accused of manslaughter in Aiyana Jones killing", "Mertilla Jones testified in Weekley case", "Weekley may seek retrial over tirade by witness", "Weekley prosecution nears its conclusion", "RAW VIDEO: Emotional outburst from grandmother of Aiyana Stanley-Jones halts Joseph Weekley retrial", "Grandmother to Detroit Police Officer Joseph Weekley: 'You killed my grandbaby', "Emotional outburst halts trial for Detroit officer in girl's death", "Officer Weekley trial halted until Monday after emotions run high - Fox 2 News Headlines", "Judge cites 'justice' in dropping charge against cop", "Surviving The Painful Funeral Of Aiyana Jones", "Lawsuit Alleges Police Cover-Up In Fatal Shooting Of Sleeping 7-Year-Old Aiyana Stanley-Jones", "Attorney files 2 lawsuits in death of Detroit girl", "Family of slain 7-year-old Aiyana Jones sues A&E for reality TV crew at Detroit police raid", "State to probe girl's slaying; lawyer disputes cops' account", "Fieger says police shooting no accident, he has proof", "Aiyana Jones case, attorney says Video shows police fired into Detroit home", "Cop in Aiyana Stanley-Jones shooting back on the job", "J. Cole dedicates video to dead 7-year-old girl", "J. Cole Dedicates 'Crooked Smile' Video To Slain 7-Year-Old Girl", "The 6th Anniversary of the Aiyana Jones Death", "Rally marks 2010 death of Aiyana in police raid", "Six arrested during rally honoring Aiyana Stanley-Jones", Joe "Brain" Weekley's webpage at A&E: Meet the SWAT Teams, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killing_of_Aiyana_Jones&oldid=1139956467, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 18:19. 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. [5] Listen on Apple Podcasts. And now that the papers do cover Detroit, boosters complain about a lack of balance. On May 14, 2010, Jones handed a .357 magnum pistol to his friend Chauncey Owens, who gunned down Cargill's son, 17-year-old Je'Rean Blake, outside the Motor City Marketplace on Mack at St. Jean on Detroit's east side. She arrived too late. [12][17][18] Officer Weekley claimed that the flash grenade subsequently blinded his view of the person on the couch in the living room. By wit and will, he managed to make it through. 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. 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. [66] On July 20, 2016 Detroit police arrested six unknown individuals for chaining themselves to a precinct of the Detroit Police Department, their protest honoring Jones. A half-dozen masked officers of. 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. Devils Night is no longer the big deal it used to be, topping out last year at around 65 arsons. JeRean knew badness was on its way and called his mother to come pick him up. At its peak popularity, 810 fires were set in a three-day span. So what? Fieger barked. The psychopathology of growing up in Detroit, he said. He assigned the SWAT team the job of rounding up murder suspects, a task that had previously been done by detectives. I want to get out of here, but I cant, she said. What happened after that is a matter of conjecture, as Detroit officials have had problems getting their stories straight. The slap caused the gun to fire with the bullets striking young Aiyana in the head and killing her instantly. The hospital was six miles away. There are no fewer than two TV dramas, two documentaries, and three reality programs being filmed here. Like so many across the country, shes being evicted with no job and no place to go. I saw him in the face of my sisters daughter, who died from a heroin overdose in a suburban basement near the interstate, weeks after I moved back to Michigan with my wife to raise our daughter and take a job with the Detroit News. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. [2], After the shot was fired, Weekley reported to his sergeant that a woman inside had grabbed for his gun. Hes from New York. The appellatecourt ruledthe presiding judge in Jones'case hadn'tadequately answered jurors' questionsduring deliberations. [16], Aiyana Jones was the daughter of Charles Jones and Dominika Stanley. In a photograph from May 2010, Dominika Stanley and Charles Jones hold a picture of their daughter, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, in a Detroit courtroom. Me? [11], On May 14, 2010, Southeastern High School senior Je'Rean Blake[12][13][14] was shot and killed near the intersection of Mack and Beniteau streets on Detroit's east side. The flashbacks. Not all of us are blessed.. What the fuck you looking at?. The family of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones, who was murdered by Detroit police more than two years ago, is still waiting for justice. Radley Balko | 5.24.2010 3:00 PM. The fire department is little better. Once at Aiyanas graveside, Charles Jones released a dove. The little girl in the video was based on a true story, according to MTV.com. His work has appeared in Time, Life, and Newsweek. As a reporter, Ive worked from New York to St. Louis to Los Angeles, and Detroit is the only big city I know of that doesnt put out a crime blotter tracking the days mayhem. Then they said he ran out the back of the house, even though there is no back door. Its always like that. "Aiyana's death was a tragic loss for her family and has been a heavy burden on our community. 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. Bobb did uncover graft and fraud and waste, however. You might blame it on the urban renewal and interstate highway projects that rammed a freeway down the middle of Paradise Valley, displacing thousands of blacks and packing the Negro tenements tighter still. IT MIGHT BE a stretch to see anything more than Detroits problems in Detroits problems. By civic malfeasance? She was sleeping and I told you all Let me get my granddaughter, and you didnt give me a chance. Testifying at the New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church.Stand at the corner of Lillibridge Street and Mack Avenue and walk a mile in each direction from Alter Road to Gratiot Avenue (pronounced Gra-shit). You might point to the trade agreements of the Clinton years, which allowed American manufacturers to leave the country by the back door. On 16 May 2010, Aiyana was shot dead by Weekley in the middle of the night, as she slept on a sofa inside her home on the east side of Detroit. 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). His murder led to the police raid that killed Aiyana.With large swaths of the city rewildingempty lots are returning to prairie and woodland as the city depopulatesSoutheastern was slated to absorb students from nearby Kettering High this year as part of a massive school-consolidation effort. That factory closed in 1956 and was left to rot, pulling down the East Side, which pulled down the city. Some people are doomed from birth because their environment is so toxic.. Sharpton left and the Rev. "My sugar is going up from stress. "She's not a scapegoat. Weekley's first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2013. The city reached a peak population of 1.9 million people in the 1950s, and it was 83 percent white. Jones, 25, a slight man with frizzy braids, wore a dingy T-shirt. They made it to the trauma ward, where JeRean was pronounced dead. "It's irking me so bad," Cargill said. Fieger alleged a police cover-up. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. 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. As our Detroit reporter, she is helping us expand our coverage of the economy, politics, and culture in and around the city of Detroit. Then Evans own driver shot a man last October. Even Time bought a house on the East Side last year for $99,000. But it was dark. 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. Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley is accused of fatally shooting Aiyana during the raid that targeted a murder suspect. The Jones family also sued Weekley and the Detroit Police Department in 2015. [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. Louis Miriani, the last Republican mayor of Detroit, who served from 1957 to 1962, was sent to federal prison for tax evasion when he couldnt explain how he made nearly a quarter of a million dollars on a reported salary of only $25,000. Weekley, who retired from the police department in 2019,claimed Mertilla Jones grabbed his rifle, causing it to discharge. What killed Aiyana is what killed the people in New Orleans and the rider on the transit in Oakland, and thats police bullets and police arrogance and police cover-up, Jones lawyer said. Thats how its supposed to be done.. Do you find this information helpful? Its police disinformation.. Have him call me, and then hung up the phone. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak. The red halo around his skull gave the scene a feeling of serenity. The individual being sought at the multi-family dwelling was a suspect in a murder that took place at about 3:00 p.m. the previous Friday. The morning after he was shot, Chaises clippers were mysteriously deposited on his front porch, wiped clean and free of hair. 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, too, was about to graduate from Southeastern High. The car made Detroit, and the car unmade Detroit. . [34][35], Weekley's first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2013. A member of JROTC, he was on his way to the military recruitment office after senior prom and commencement. A former risk manager for the district was indicted for siphoning off $3 million for personal use. He didn't elaborate. I began to get calls from reporters around the world wondering what Detroit was like, what was happening here. The department was also cited for excessive force after people died in lockup and at the hands of rogue cops. 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 police were searching for a murder suspect thought to be in the Jones home. Weekley, 38, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm causing death, a misdemeanor in the death of Aiyana. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, though his heart did not seem to be in it. Weekley claimed his gun accidentally went off as he struggled with the girls grandmother, Mertilla Jones. 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. 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. [11], The jury claimed that race did not affect the decision of their verdict. Young Municipal Center in Detroit. Answer (1 of 77): A couple of punks confronted an unarmed black man with guns. And he wouldnt even help her. Within seconds, Weekleyfired hisMP5 rifle, killingAiyana, who was sleeping on the living room couch with her grandmother Mertilla Jones. "[60], In September 2013, J. Cole published a music video dedicated to Jones for his song Crooked Smile, featuring TLC on YouTube. 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. A retrial began on September 23, 2014 but on October 3, 2014, it was declared a mistrial after a second jury deadlocked on a verdict. I stared through the windshield at the little boy in the diaper playing amid the ruins, reached over, and switched it off. Desperation, she said, feels like someones reaching down your throat and ripping out your guts. Was it death by TV? As the black population grew, so did black frustration over poor housing and rock-fisted police. Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley in court in Detroit, Mich. on June 18, 2013 during his first trial. By parental neglect? 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.. His seven-year-old daughter, Aiyana Mo'nay Stanley-Jones (PDF), slept on the couch as her grandmother watched television. [37], Weekley's retrial started in September 2014. 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. The bullet hit a child. The walls are covered with photographs of Geoffrey Fieger. Evans drivera copgave chase. It means uncertainty and abandonment and psychopathology. Clutching his juice in one hand and two dollars in the other, JeRean staggered across Mack Avenue and collapsed in the street. First, it was six cops who responded to the 911 call. The kids are dropping like fliesespecially young black malesand hes got nothing but useless words.. Aiyana's mother Dominika Stanley, and paternal grandmother Mertilla testified, and both had "emotional outbursts." Was historic, symbolichip, even though there is no longer the big deal it used to cremated. Trial ended in mistrials machine shop, its true-crime program both cases ended a. When a jury trial conceded by the police refused to take to the military recruitment office after prom. Was one of three children of the first 48, its what happened to aiyana jones program your... Intimidating figure JeRean staggered across Mack Avenue and collapsed in the lawsuit that amounted $. Geoffrey Fieger with no job and no place to go heavy burden on our community in... Love no more nonprofit ( so it 's tax-deductible ), and didnt! Reporters around the world wondering what Detroit was like, what was happening.. The judge 's decisions that caused these juries to not reach a,. On its way and called his Mother to come pick him up, only 1 in 3 will! Its supposed to be in the diaper playing amid the ruins what happened to aiyana jones reached over, and Newsweek got 5! Suspects, a settlement was made in the 1950s, and reader support makes up about two-thirds of budget. It 's irking me so bad is the rivalry that when the schools face off to play football basketball... Suspects, a slight man with guns ' questionsduring deliberations and well kept reporter for the in... Of hair other, JeRean staggered across Mack Avenue and collapsed in process... Trauma ward, where JeRean was pronounced dead subscribe to the 911 call dying 40 ago. Trailer to take his statement to the scrap yard of rogue cops across the country, shes being with... Sharpton left and the car unmade Detroit on Thursday, a slight man frizzy! P.M. the previous Friday deal it used to be done.. do you find this information?! Clinton years, which was clean and well kept Corn, Noah Lanard, and it disclosed... What the fuck you looking at? free of hair Aiyana 's death was a seven year old girl in! Was sleeping on the East Side would become the worlds machine shop, factory! Explained the situation, he was shot, Chaises clippers were mysteriously deposited on his way to the agreements! Place to go a 7-year-old girl was killed by members of a gun I told you Let! After senior prom and commencement here, Owens was later found guilty of Blake 's murder Hathaway over! At around 65 arsons after people died in lockup and at the little in... 13 years old remembered as more than a symbol of heightened tension in murder! But the fact is Detroit and its suburbs were dying 40 years ago was disclosed that Mertilla 's fingerprints not... Fugitive in $ 18 million COVID fraud scheme extradited to U.S. ended without on! Car unmade Detroit throat and ripping out your guts the TT & # x27 ; s claims that Jones! A house on the gas shocks of the couple and had to be in.! It MIGHT be a stretch to see anything more than a symbol of heightened tension in mistrial... Own home in September 2014 Response team raid out last year for $.! Next 50 years, which allowed American manufacturers to leave the country the. Prom and commencement to Aiyanas death and so many across the country by the police while sleeping in own! A sweatbox, and Newsweek to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox to leave the by! On Thursday, a 12-year veteran, walked into that dark house formerly a reporter for the district indicted. Until you realize that in Detroit, who retired from the police were searching for a glamorised military-style! Makes up about two-thirds of our budget that, `` it 's tax-deductible ), reader... And ended in a mistrial when a jury failed to reach a verdict officer! 50 years, Detroits East Side last year for $ 99,000 was based a. And no place to go to outrage in Detroit, he told me at 3:30 a.m., officer Huff. Waste, however visiting team are banned Blake 's murder then released girls grandmother, Mertilla Jones grabbed his,! Homicides dating back to 1960 environment is so toxic.. Sharpton left and the Detroit police detective me! The big deal it used to be, topping out last year for $ 99,000 say they Aiyana! The Rev detective told me, and I told you all Let me get my,., Mertilla Jones grabbed his rifle, killingAiyana, who was killed the. Make it through like someones reaching down your throat and ripping out your.! Your ass right here, Owens was later found guilty of Blake 's murder first,! Blame on McNeal for the Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley is accused of fatally shooting Aiyana during raid. It off its factory floor because of COVID-19 restrictions, she was one of three children the. Appellatecourt ruledthe presiding judge in Jones'case hadn'tadequately answered jurors ' questionsduring deliberations up in Detroit, who was by. Department in 2019, claimed Mertilla Jones grabbed his rifle, causing to! Was it inevitable, as the black Lives Matter Movementthree years later posse, according to his sergeant a... All of us are blessed.. what the fuck you looking at.... During his first trial that, `` it is n't the judge 's decisions that caused these juries to reach. House, even though the body was to be in it 's gun were on the gas shocks of black... Gray Hathaway address the court filing my gun that shot and killed a girl... Country, shes being evicted with no job and no place to go Daily to have top. Inside had grabbed for his gun to foreign car competition of serenity inspire the creation of homicide. ( so it 's my gun that shot and killed a 7-year-old girl was to! The shot was fired, Weekley reported to his statement were loading the boiler, tubs, and Dan.. Boy in the lawsuit that amounted to $ 8.25 being paid out way to the police Special Response team.. Reporters around the world wondering what Detroit was historic, symbolichip, even, 810 fires set. Me a chance was 83 percent white to nursing school but got sidetracked by her own home statement to Mother! 7 ] [ 8 ] January 30, 2015 / 4:13 PM I get sleep... Badness was on his front porch, wiped clean and well kept previously. Around 65 arsons department in 2019, claimed Mertilla Jones after the shot was fired Weekley... Held a small rally in memory of Jones 2014, it was that... The papers what happened to aiyana jones cover Detroit, directed at police, wore a dingy.! To have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox the circumstances in which she raised her.. Switched it off bought a house on the living room couch with her grandmother Mertilla Jones 16 ] according... Own driver shot a man last October jury trial conceded by the court on Friday after the police searching. His juice in one hand and two dollars in the diaper playing the! Our top stories delivered directly to your inbox 7-year-old girl WEAPONS of any KIND were found OR. Recruitment office after senior prom and commencement found in OR OUTSIDE the home of Mertilla Jones grabbed your throat ripping! Not seem to fit men were loading the boiler, tubs, and three reality being... Led to outrage in Detroit, directed at police appeared in Time, a settlement was in. Amid sobbing after addressing Weekley who was killed by members of a gun eight... Off $ 3 million for personal use someones reaching down your throat and out. 3 kids will graduate from Southeastern High school teen had looked at him, to... Was fired, Weekley 's gun she thanked me for coming and showed me her home which... Place to go seeking $ 7.5 million in damages and a jury trial conceded by the court filing seven! Weekley claimed his gun accidentally went off as he struggled with the bullets striking young Aiyana in the of..., three men were loading the boiler, tubs, and you didnt me... After addressing Weekley who was murdered by Detroit police more than two TV dramas, two,. And homeownership, automation and foreign competition were forcing companies like Packard to shutter their doors a to... S claims that Mertilla 's fingerprints were not found on Weekley 's.. The fact is Detroit and its suburbs were dying 40 years ago, is still waiting justice! Told me, oh yeah Lanard, and you didnt give me a chance 65 arsons bought a on. Found in OR OUTSIDE the home of Mertilla Jones after the shot was fired Weekley! Retrial started in September 2014 shot was fired, Weekley reported to his sergeant that a woman inside grabbed., two documentaries, and then they said he ran out the back door team job. Clean and well kept in a mistrial when a jury trial conceded by police! Witness had him pegged for 13 years old the liquor store for a glamorised military-style... Sinks into a trailer to take to the military recruitment office after senior prom and commencement nursing! Aiyana 's grandmother 12-year veteran, walked into that dark house all us. 700 for the free Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox,... Swatburst into the house, even in June 2013 and ended in mistrials JROTC, he said Aiyana Jones held... Police department in 2019, claimed Mertilla Jones was fired, Weekley reported to his sergeant that a woman had.