Officer Jospeh Weekley, 37, is on trial for the death of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones according to the Detroit Free Press. The officer reportedly accidentally shot the child in the head in a 2010 raid. He has been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm causing death.
A Special Response Team was pursing the arrest of a murder suspect within Aiyana's home but was unaware that the child was sleeping on the couch. Jurors were exposed to a "dramatic video" that showed how the raid was conducted, a cross examination of the officer who "conducted the surveillance" and was even taken to an outside venue so that they can witness the effects of a flash-bang grenade which has been used by defense attorneys to explain the accidental shot fired.
"The flash grenade goes off: Boom! He stands there. This is called the fatal funnel," Rob Moran, assistant prosecutor said. "You never stand in a doorway. Three seconds after flash grenade detonates, his gun goes off and that's when the fatal so fired. No one grabbed his gun. There was no struggle."
According to the Huffington Post, "police have said Weekley was jostled by, or collided with, Aiyana's grandmother, Mertilla Jones, causing the gun to fire but prosecutors disagree."
"He pulls back and his hand hits the trigger. It was an accident. It was not careless. It was not reckless," said Weekly's defense lawyer. He continued by saying Weekley's actions was not a crime but a "tragedy of the highest order."
Jones is scheduled to take the stand but her credibility has been questioned because of the various versions of the shooting she provided to authorities. Aiyana's mother has also testified. The mom cried as she recalled sitting on the bloody couch until being escorted to a nearby hospital where she was told her daughter had died.
