Police ignored pleas for ambulance, say family

Tippa Naphtali, the cousin of Mikey Powell said; “When I saw this headline about Jake’s case its first impact was how identical it was to headlines related to my cousin’s case. The more I read about Jake’s death the more I realised the striking similarity of events to those of Mikey’s.

“I am extremely saddended for the family and friends of Jake and outraged that such a sequence of events could be repeated almost blow for blow. Where are these lessons that police forces throughout the UK claim they take on after deaths in custody? Are we going to continue to allow this complacency?

“This has to stop. Family campaigners need to take matters into our hands in a manner more unprecidented than anything seen before. We need to adopt an intelligent and collaborative response working with a single vision and strategy.

“Our thoughts go out to this family and the others, both recent and previous, that have suffered this ultimate injustice”. 

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Officer charged with manslaughter in Aiyana case

originally by: CBS Detroit
published: 4th October 2011

A member of the Detroit Police Special Response Team has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl who was shot to death during a raid on her home. Charges were also announced against two others. Officer Joseph Weekley was charged Tuesday following a yearlong Michigan State Police investigation into the May 2010 death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones. A judge entered a not-guilty plea for Weekley at an afternoon court hearing in front of Judge Margie Braxton.

Aiyana was killed in a police raid as she slept on a couch in her home. While witnesses said police burst in shooting, police insist that the girl was shot when an officer’s gun accidentally discharged.

The raid was being filmed by a crew for the A&E network’s “The First 48″ show.

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Mourners call for abolishing death penalty at funeral for Troy Davis in Georgia

originally by: Democracy Now!
published: 3rd October 2011

This weekend in Savannah, Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis was laid to rest. Davis was killed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia on Sept. 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop his execution.

The 2,000-seat Jonesville Baptist Church was filled to capacity for his funeral. While his body was being lowered into the burial ground, 23 doves were released. The first was symbolic of his spirit, and the remaining 22 represented each year Davis spent in prison.

He was convicted of the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there was no physical evidence that tied Davis to the crime scene.

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