Judge Tosses Out Manslaughter Charge Against Cop Who Killed Girl
Shot her in Detroit during a police raid
A judge on Friday tossed out an involuntary manslaughter charge against a Detroit police officer who shot and killed a 7-year-old girl during a 2010 police raid.
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway was acting on a motion from the defense as the two-week jury trial headed into closing arguments.
Officer Joseph Weekley still faces a charge of reckless discharge of a firearm in the death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Weekley is being retried after a jury failed to reach a verdict last year in the same case.
Judge Gray Hathaway said she accepted the defense's reasoning that evidence and testimony did not meet the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
I'm just shocked that a police officer in this country can put a gun to the head of a 7 year old girl, pull the trigger, and not be punished in any way. Shocked I tell you.
I'm going to be in the corner curled up in the fetal position if anybody needs me.