Detroit police vow honesty in child death probe

Category: Academics

SubscriptionsGo to the Subscriptions Centre to manage your:My ProfileAttorney Geoffrey Fieger, centre, speaks to the media Tuesday with Aiyana Jones's family. From left, Aiyana's mother, Dominika Stanley, father Charles Jones, grandmother Mertilla Jones and aunt Krystal Sanders.Toshiba Ultrasonic Probe ((David Coates/The Detroit News/Associated Press))Detroit's police chief acknowledged Tuesday that findings from an investigation into the death of a seven year old girl who was shot during a police raid "won't be pretty, but they will be honest."Warren Evans, who was hired last summer in part to ensure Detroit police change the way they use force, cut short an overseas vacation and returned to the city Tuesday, just as an attorney for the family of Aiyana Jones announced two lawsuits claiming officers violated the girl's rights.'Whatever our findings, they won't be pretty. There is no way they can be under these circumstances. They won't be pretty, but they will be honest.' Warren Evans, Detroit police chief"Although the investigation into the circumstances of Aiyana's death is now being conducted by the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department has its own painful self examination to undergo," Evans said in an email statement.Aiyana was shot in the neck when police raided her home while searching for a 34 year old murder suspect.Her family was represented by lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, who demanded that police provide answers."You all know what happened at the scene. Please don't let this child die in vain," Fieger said in an appeal to members of the department's Special Response Team, which raided the ramshackle home early Sunday after obtaining a search warrant.Only 1 shot recorded on videoPolice have said an officer's gun accidentally went off inside the house after officers confronted or collided with the girl's grandmother. But Fieger said a videotape shows the shot was fired from the porch after a flash bang grenade was lobbed through a window.Seven year old Aiyana was sleeping inside this house when police raided the home early Sunday morning searching for a homicide suspect. An officer's gun went off, striking the girl in the neck, said family. ((Carlos Osorio/Associated Press))Fieger said he viewed three or four minutes of video footage of the raid. He would not say who recorded the events, but a camera crew for the A reality series The First 48 was filming the raid.The video shows a group of black hooded officers approaching the house, the grenade being thrown and the fatal shot, he said."We know there's only one shot. It's vividly depicted in the videotape . right after the [grenade] throw and the explosion of the bomb. At that point, the officers rush into the home," said Fieger, who is best known for representing assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian.Fieger did not retain a copy of the footage.Dan Silberman, a spokesman for A declined to comment and denied a request by The Associated Press to view the footage.