Slain Girl's Family Sues Detroit Police

DETROIT (CN) – Detroit cops killed a 7-year-old girl on Sunday by tossing a flash-bang grenade onto her as she slept, then “blindly fir(ing) random shots” into her home, striking her in the neck and brain, her parents claim. Then, “in an intentional cover-up,” a cop “rushed into the house and made physical contact” with the girl’s grandmother, the family claims in Federal Court.     The Sunday morning raid on Detroit’s Eastside made national news after police shot to death 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones.      “Aiyana’s father, Charles Jones, entered the front room of the lower unit in time to see his mother, Mertilla Jones, being detained and to observe his mortally wounded daughter being carried out of the house before Charles Jones was ordered to the floor and kept cuffed there for up to two hours,” according to the complaint.     “Detroit police have confiscated the burned Disney Princess blanket Aiyana Stanley-Jones was sleeping with as well as the burned couch she was lying on when she was shot and killed.”     The family seeks punitive damages for excessive force, conspiracy and constitutional violations. They sued Detroit, its Police Department and the Detroit P.D. Special Response Team. They are represented by Geoffrey Fieger with Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson & Giroux.