The family of a Black man who was shot and killed by an off-duty Philadelphia homicide detective last fall is suing the city and several police officers, claiming the shooting was unjustified and that the detective and his police colleagues have conspired to cover it up.
The detective was cleared of wrongdoing in July by the district attorney’s office, which offered no public explanation for its decision.
At 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, Robert Jones, 54, pulled up behind Philadelphia Police Det. Christopher Sweeney, who stopped his car in the turn lane in a residential area of north Philadelphia, according to the lawsuit filed on Aug. 27 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
Sweeney, a 14-year veteran of the police department, who is white, was off-duty and driving his personal vehicle, a Black Subaru, but was armed with his service gun, the complaint says.
Jones, who was trained to provide roadside assistance, was wearing a bright yellow reflective vest. His brother, Michael Jones, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family, argues that Jones believed the vehicle in front of him was disabled and got out of his car and approached the driver, whom he believed to be stranded, to offer assistance.
Sweeney, sitting in the driver’s seat, then flashed his badge at Jones and yelled at him through the closed window that he was a police officer, the lawsuit says.
Jones was not armed and did not present any physical threat to Sweeney, the complaint alleges. Before he could respond to Jones, the officer shot him at point blank range through the window, incapacitating him. Then Sweeney continued firing at Jones, striking him multiple times throughout his body. Jones was rushed to a hospital but died soon thereafter.
Sweeney’s actions amounted to a violent, unprovoked assault and battery on Jones, and an unjustified and illegal use of force, the complaint contends.
After the shooting, police who responded to the scene fervently searched for a weapon to tie to Jones, with no success, the lawsuit says. Nearby surveillance cameras did not fully capture the shooting, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Then the officers engaged “in a conspiracy to obfuscate the truth and shield Detective Sweeney from criminal liability while assigning blame to Robert Jones,” the complaint asserts.
Initially police created and supported Sweeney’s “false narrative that the shooting was the result of road rage incident in which Jones was the aggressor,” the lawsuit says, further arguing that police “manipulated the crime scene” so that Sweeney’s story that he was protecting himself would withstand scrutiny. The complaint does not provide any examples of such crime scene manipulation.
“They’re trying to save the officer and at the same time put a stain on my brother’s name,” Michael Jones told Fox 29 shortly after the killing, which provoked public protests against police handling of the investigation, including claims of police brutality.
In January, Tonya McLary, executive director of Philadelphia’s Citizens Police Oversight Commission, complained that four months after the incident police still had not provided the watchdog agency access to information that it needed to assess Sweeney’s shooting of Jones. Such cases can erode the public’s trust in law enforcement, she told The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America.
Kevin O’Brien, one of Jones’ attorneys, acknowledged to the Philadelphia Inquirer that Sweeney may have mistakenly thought that Jones was armed when he opened fire.
“People make mistakes but that doesn’t mean taking someone’s life is justified,” said O’Brien. “And we certainly think the evidence will show that.”
The lawsuit accuses Sweeney of assault and battery, wrongful death and inflicting severe injuries on Jones prior to his death that caused him severe pain, anxiety, and horror. It accuses five unnamed police officers of conspiracy to cover up Sweeney’s alleged crimes, and names the City of Philadelphia as a co-defendant that managed the police department and employed the officers.
Michael Jones seeks a judgment to recover at least $50,000 in damages on behalf of his brother’s estate, including damages for wrongful death to be paid to his mother and beneficiary, Sharon Jones, who is and will be deprived of his counsel, services, companionship, and financial support for clothing, food, shelter, medical care, nursing care and custodial care, among other expenses.
Robert Jones, the eldest of four boys, never married and had no children, and helped care for his mother after she suffered a stroke three years ago, Michael Jones told the Inquirer.
Jones was raised in the Wilson Park housing projects in South Philadelphia and spent about a decade working as a groundskeeper for the Philadelphia Eagles, and worked for 20 years at the Southwark Metal Manufacturing, his family said.
The lawsuit also seeks at least $150,000 more in compensatory and punitive damages for Jones’s physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and humiliation, and economic losses.
The defendants, who were served with the complaint on Aug. 28, generally have 20 days, or until Sept. 18, to file a response.
The Philadelphia city law department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
