Policy

Grandmother of Girl, 7, Killed by Detroit Police Testifies

Officer charged with manslaughter

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A Detroit grandmother testified Monday that she could only watch in terror as masked police officers with guns drawn stormed her home in a hunt for a murder suspect that led to the fatal shooting of her 7-year-old granddaughter.

Officer Joseph Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the May 2010 death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, who was asleep on a couch when police raided the house.

Aiyana's grandmother, 50-year-old Mertilla Jones, said after a flash-bang grenade exploded through a window she rolled onto the floor and was lying on her stomach facing the door when Detroit special response team members forced their way inside.