Detroit Michigan lawsuits: Family of 7-year-old girl killed during raid sue

May 19, 2010 (TopWireNews.com: - Law, press release)

Detroit, MI – The police raid on a family home on Sunday, May 16, 2010 that left a 7-year-old girl dead has lead to two lawsuits, according to CNN. It has also been reported by MSNBC that the Special Response Team that conducted the raid was being followed by A&E videographers who caught the entire incident on tape. The A&E team was filming for its series “The First 48,” a show chronicling the works of Detroit homicide detectives.

While police claim officers threw a flash grenade through the first-floor window of the two-family home and the officer’s gun discharged during a scuffle with the girl’s grandmother, the family’s attorney claims otherwise.

According to reports from MSNBC, the family’s attorney claims to have seen three to four minutes of a video of the raid. The lawyer claims the video shows an officer throwing the flash grenade into the home and then shooting into the home from the outside.

The little girl, Aiyana Jones, was severely burned by the grenade before she was shot. She was reportedly sleeping on the couch at the time of the raid.

A&E denied a request from the Associated Press for the footage and a spokesman for the company said no one was going to comment on the case. FULL STORY

Family sues police in death of girl, 7

Raid that led to her being shot may have been videotaped

'There are children in the house'

Aiyana's cousin, Mark Robinson, said he was walking the family's dogs when police grabbed him and threw him to the ground.

"I told them, 'There are children in the house. There are children in the house,'" Robinson told reporters at the news conference Tuesday. FULL STORY