Charges Dropped Against Detroit Cop Who Killed 7-Year Old

In October, a Detroit Judge dismissed charges against Officer Joseph Weekley who shot and killed 7-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Counter Current News reports that an appeals court has denied the appeal filed to reverse the judges ruling.

The Detroit police officer had been on trial for involuntary manslaughter for shooting and killing the young girl during a 2010 police raid.

But early in October, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway granted a motion which Weekley’s attorney had filed, arguing for the dismissal of the felony charge he faced in the young girl’s death.

The trial was brought to an end while the Michigan Court of Appeals reviewed an emergency appeal of the ruling.

Presiding Judge Michael Talbot issued the order to deny the appeal and allow the judge’s dismal to stand.

In denying the appeal, the Appeals Court Judge said Hathaway’s ruling was wrong, the Appeals Court didn’t have jurisdiction to overturn it.

In May 2010, a swat team raided the house where Aiyana was sleeping on the couch. Weekly claims he was blinded by a flash-bang grenade when he fired his weapon. He also claimed Aiyana’s grandmother touched his gun which is why he fired. There was a film-crew recording the raid for a realty-show on murder investigations.

Weekly still faces a minor misdemeanor charge of “careless discharge of a firearm causing death.”