7 year old girl killed by the cops in detroit

[Elano]

Burn in hell Officer Joseph Weekly.

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How could Detroit police, storming the house to arrest a murder suspect Sunday morning, end up killing 7-year-old Aiyana Jones?

"I seen the light go out of her eyes," her grandmother, Mertilla Jones, 47, wailed outside the home Sunday afternoon after being released from police custody.

Jones was in the living room with Aiyana about 12:40 a.m. when a flash went off and a loud noise was heard.

Police rushed in, guns drawn.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said Jones got into a tussle with the first officer in, causing his gun to go off.

A bullet pierced Aiyana's head and neck. Police are investigating the incident, and Chief Warren Evans is said to be cutting short an out-of-country vacation to return to Detroit today. Jones was too distraught to comment to the Free Press about what happened.

"This is any parent's worst nightmare," Godbee said in a statement Sunday. "It also is any police officer's worst nightmare. ... No words can do anything to take away the pain."

The incident came after a two-week spate of high-profile shootings in the city -- starting with the gunning down of Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff on May 3.

Police got the suspect they came for on Sunday, but the arrest leaves a lingering question for investigators, Aiyana's family and members of the community who gathered throughout the day and at a vigil Sunday night:

What happened?

Anger, blame follow death

Squatting on the stoop outside his Detroit home Sunday afternoon, the father of the 7-year-old girl killed by police earlier that day gazed at photos of his only daughter at her sixth birthday party.

The scene outside Aiyana's home was a mixture of shock, grief and anger as family and friends gathered to try to make sense of a shooting death they said was caused by overaggressive law enforcement.

Police said they, too, are deeply upset by the second-grader's death and are conducting a full investigation.

The shooting -- which happened during an attempt to catch a murder suspect found and arrested at the home Sunday -- is the latest high-profile death in a city where there is a growing sense that violence is spilling out of control.

Ron Scott, head of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, called Sunday's shooting the worst he has seen in 14 years of working to stop police abuse.

But some said it's too early to point fingers.

"Things go wrong, and things happen that you didn't necessarily plan for," said retired Detroit Police Sgt. David Malhalab, who frequently monitors Detroit police issues. "All I ask is for the public to wait until a complete and thorough investigation is completed."

Search led cops to home

The chain of events was triggered at 3 p.m. Friday with the shooting death of Jarean Blake, 17, a student at Southeastern High School in Detroit.

He was gunned down "in particularly brutal fashion in front of a store -- and in front of his girlfriend," Godbee said in a statement.

Investigators identified the suspect as a 34-year-old man and obtained a search warrant for a home on Lillibridge, on Detroit's east side.

"Because of the ruthless and violent nature of the suspect in this case, it was determined that it would be in the best interest of public safety to execute the search warrant as soon as possible," Godbee said in a statement.

Outside the home, the department's special response team was prepared to go in. Film crews with A&E's "The First 48" reality show, which follows police departments nationwide during the crucial 48 hours after a homicide is committed, were taping the team for a documentary. Police spokesman John Roach said the tapes will be reviewed as part of the investigation.

Police said that they threw an incendiary device known as a flash-bang grenade through a front window of the home to create a distraction.

After entering, a Detroit officer got into a tussle with Mertilla Jones, Aiyana's grandmother, in the front room, police said.

A police gun went off. Aiyana was killed.

'It happened so fast'

According to family members, Aiyana was sleeping on the couch, which sat near a window that faces the street. The explosive device the police threw in landed on that couch and burned her, her father said. Police could not confirm Sunday that Aiyana was burned, nor could the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.

"I heard: Boom! Detroit police! Pop! It happened so fast," said Krystal Sanders, 30, an aunt of the girl who lives at the house. Her fiancé was the man police were looking to arrest.

Aiyana's father, Charles Jones, said he rushed into the living room after hearing the explosive and gunshot. He said police made him lie facedown on the ground, his face in shattered glass and blood.

"Blood was coming down her mouth," Mertilla Jones said. "They killed my grandbaby."

Jones, who spent time in police custody Sunday before being released, was distraught and surrounded by family and friends trying to comfort her. She was not available to explain her account of what happened to the Free Press.

Charles Jones said that police told him his daughter would be OK. The girl was rushed to St. John's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Full investigation promised

Godbee said that he and other ranking members of the department went to the hospital.

"This is a tragedy of unspeakable magnitude to Aiyana's parents, family and all those who loved her," Godbee said. "We cannot undo what occurred this morning. All we can do is to pledge an open and full investigation, and to support Aiyana's family in whatever way."

Later, he told the Free Press: "We have executed countless high-risk warrants where children have been present.

"This was a perfect storm for tragedy."

Activists such as Scott said devices such as flash-bang grenades are military-style tools inappropriate for civilian settings -- especially those where children are present.

But police said they use such devices to distract suspects who are potentially violent and hostile.

Police did find and arrest the man they came for. Charges had not been filed as of Sunday night. Godbee said that police found a car and moped that matched descriptions of vehicles involved in the fatal shooting of the 17-year-old student.
Grief breeds anger

Family members, neighbors and strangers surrounded the Lillibridge home at a vigil Sunday night, their voices rising in a chant: "No justice, no peace!"

The gathering -- coordinated by the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality -- was a mix of mourning and anger as shooting protesters held candles dripping wax onto the cracked sidewalk outside the duplex.

Earlier in the day, family members had described Aiyana as a lively girl who loved to sing and dance. She was especially fond of teen pop stars Justin Beiber and Hannah Montana.

At one point at the vigil, the crowd screamed for Police Chief Warren Evans -- who was out of the country on vacation during the incident and is expected to cut his trip short to return.

The Rev. Charles Williams II said the incident should be a wake-up call for the city.

"This is a boiling-point moment," said Williams, a pastor at the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, which has offered to hold a free funeral service for Aiyana.

"We have lost humanity in this city," Williams said. "We have lost the value of life."

He urged residents, city officials, pastors and everyone else invested in Detroit to come together to make the city a place where "folk don't have to go around scared of the police, and the police don't have to go around scared of the city."

As one man in the crowd began yelling about retaliating by shooting kneecaps, coalition spokesman Scott urged Williams to lead the group in prayer to end the gathering in peace.

"We understand that no life is lost in vain," he prayed.

[Elano]

a SWAT Officer 

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

Not surprised

[Bananas]

It's a cops worst nightmare, more so than a fellow officer being killed.

I'm not saying take it easy on the guy it's your right to be mad..

but this is the worst thing you could imagine happening when trying to take some drug dealer off the street.

[Elano]

if you work for the swat and you enter in the wrong house 

[7even]

Of course this is horrible, but anybody who hints that this officer shot her intentionally for fun purposes is a complete retard.

[Elano]

Of course this is horrible, but anybody who hints that this officer shot her intentionally for fun purposes is a complete retard.

not for fun,of course.
because he's a fuckin asshole that don't know how to handle a fuckin gun

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

Of course this is horrible, but anybody who hints that this officer shot her intentionally for fun purposes is a complete retard.

I dont think its that people think he shot her on purpose. Its more so the carelessness and recklessness that they were exhibiting. Throwing a flashbang into a house where there are kids is fucked up. Police need to be held to the same standards as citizens. If I have a gun...even if im licensed to carry it....and i pull it out and accidentally shoot and kill somebody, guess what? Im goin to prison on a manslaughter charge.

[westsiderider323]

i heard bout this they were filming an episode of The First 48 when this happened

[Blasphemy]