Aiyana Stanley-Jones: Trial Resumes for Officer Charged in Girl’s Death

More relatives of a 7-year-old Detroit girl are expected to testify in the trial of a police officer charged in her death.

Joseph Weekley’s trial is to resume Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court. Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot in the head during a May 2010 police raid as she slept on a couch near the front door inside her east side home.

Police tossed a stun grenade through a window before entering the house. They were after Chauncey Owens, a suspect in a murder 2 days earlier.

Weekley contends he accidentally fired his gun when Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, reached for it. Jones is listed as a witness in the trial.

The raid was being filmed by a reality television show crew.

Source: AP

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top