Anti Federalist
06-01-2010, 06:02 PM
Aiyana shot through head, not neck, county agrees
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
http://www.freep.com/article/20100601/NEWS01/100601005/1318/Aiyana-shot-through-head-not-neck-county-agrees
http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20100601&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=100601005&Ref=AR&Profile=1318&MaxW=575&MaxH=340&Q=50
Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger said today that he has evidence proving Detroit Police Officer shot Aiyana Stanley-Jones through the top of the head, not through the neck as previously reported.
Fieger said a preliminary autopsy conducted by Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz, who Fieger retained, confirms that the 7-year-old girl was shot through the head.
Spitz’s report, passed out today at a news conference, indicates the bullet “perforates the scalp, right frontal lobe ...” and exited “the anterior surface of the neck.”
Later today, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec confirmed that the county Medical Examiner’s Office changed the death certificate to indicate that Aiyana’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, not neck, after a conversation with Spitz.
Detroit police say an officer’s gun accidentally went off May 16 inside an east side Detroit home as officers searched for a 34-year-old murder suspect. Police have said the gun fired during a struggle with Aiyana’s grandmother.
Fieger, who claims to have seen a video of the event, countered that an officer fired a shot from outside the front door that struck Aiyana while she was sleeping on a living room couch. With Aiyana’s family seated with him, he showed reporters an animated version of what he believes occurred.
“He shot purposely,” Fieger said of the officer. “I’m not suggesting that he knew what he was shooting at. I’m telling you that he pulled the trigger and fired into the house. It was not an accident.”
David Balash, a retired firearms examiner for the Michigan State Police, was surprised by the findings.
“How could you possibly miss that?” he said of the change in the death certificate. “A bullet entering the top of the head is not something you can miss. If they missed that, there is something dramatically wrong in the city of Detroit and county of Wayne.”
Film crews from the A&E show "The First 48" were on hand at the time of the shooting.
Fieger has maintained that he viewed a separate video of the raid which shows the fatal shot came from the front porch after police tossed a flash-bang grenade through the front window.
Fieger is representing Aiyana's family in a lawsuit against the city.
Detroit Police Spokesman John Roach did not immediately comment.
Fieger also called for other police officers to come forward and admit that there was no struggle and the fatal shot was fired from outside of the home.
“My belief is that this is part of a significant cover-up,” he said. “Come forward and tell the truth.”
He then held up a pair of Aiyana’s pink and black gym shoes.
“Where’s the apology?” Fieger asked.
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
http://www.freep.com/article/20100601/NEWS01/100601005/1318/Aiyana-shot-through-head-not-neck-county-agrees
http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20100601&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=100601005&Ref=AR&Profile=1318&MaxW=575&MaxH=340&Q=50
Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger said today that he has evidence proving Detroit Police Officer shot Aiyana Stanley-Jones through the top of the head, not through the neck as previously reported.
Fieger said a preliminary autopsy conducted by Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz, who Fieger retained, confirms that the 7-year-old girl was shot through the head.
Spitz’s report, passed out today at a news conference, indicates the bullet “perforates the scalp, right frontal lobe ...” and exited “the anterior surface of the neck.”
Later today, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec confirmed that the county Medical Examiner’s Office changed the death certificate to indicate that Aiyana’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, not neck, after a conversation with Spitz.
Detroit police say an officer’s gun accidentally went off May 16 inside an east side Detroit home as officers searched for a 34-year-old murder suspect. Police have said the gun fired during a struggle with Aiyana’s grandmother.
Fieger, who claims to have seen a video of the event, countered that an officer fired a shot from outside the front door that struck Aiyana while she was sleeping on a living room couch. With Aiyana’s family seated with him, he showed reporters an animated version of what he believes occurred.
“He shot purposely,” Fieger said of the officer. “I’m not suggesting that he knew what he was shooting at. I’m telling you that he pulled the trigger and fired into the house. It was not an accident.”
David Balash, a retired firearms examiner for the Michigan State Police, was surprised by the findings.
“How could you possibly miss that?” he said of the change in the death certificate. “A bullet entering the top of the head is not something you can miss. If they missed that, there is something dramatically wrong in the city of Detroit and county of Wayne.”
Film crews from the A&E show "The First 48" were on hand at the time of the shooting.
Fieger has maintained that he viewed a separate video of the raid which shows the fatal shot came from the front porch after police tossed a flash-bang grenade through the front window.
Fieger is representing Aiyana's family in a lawsuit against the city.
Detroit Police Spokesman John Roach did not immediately comment.
Fieger also called for other police officers to come forward and admit that there was no struggle and the fatal shot was fired from outside of the home.
“My belief is that this is part of a significant cover-up,” he said. “Come forward and tell the truth.”
He then held up a pair of Aiyana’s pink and black gym shoes.
“Where’s the apology?” Fieger asked.