Another Mistrial In Case Of Officer Who Shot Sleeping 7-Year-Old To Death

[Jazzy]

A mistrial has been declared in the trial of the Detroit police officer who shot a sleeping 7-year-old to death.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said that Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway declared a mistrial Friday after the jury deadlocked. Jurors had been deliberating over a misdemeanor charge for Officer Joseph Weekley, who killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones during a botched 2010 police raid.

"No matter the outcome of any jury's decision, I have already been devastated and my life has been ruined irreparably by the events that occurred on May 16, 2010," Weekley said in a statement, according to the Detroit News.

Weekley went into the trial last month charged additionally with a count of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a 15-year maximum prison sentence. The judge dismissed the charge during the trial after a motion by the defense, citing a lack of evidence.

Roland Lawrence, chairman of the Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee, said in a statement Friday that the trial was both a "travesty and a comedy."

"This trial is a travesty because the judicial system allowed the death of a child by a well-trained police agency to go unpunished," he said. "It is comedy because the people of [southeast] Michigan actually think that Aiyana's family is responsible for Aiyana's death."

Shortly after midnight on May 16, 2010, Weekley entered the Stanley-Jones home. He was the first through the door as part of the Detroit Special Response Team's search for a murder suspect. As a crew filmed for an A&E reality series about murder investigations, another officer is said to have thrown a flash-bang grenade, allegedly making it difficult for Weekley to see. Weekley then fired the shot that killed Aiyana, who was sleeping on the couch with her grandmother, Mertilla Jones.

In court, Weekley maintained that Jones struck his gun, which caused him to shoot. Jones, a primary witness in the trial, denied doing so or being close to Weekley. The prosecution argued that Weekley shouldn't have had his finger on the trigger of his gun, per his professional training.

"The only evidence that points to any kind of knowingly creating a danger or intending to cause injury, the only testimony is that of Mertilla Jones, which is by its nature and by comparison to the other testimony, including the medical examiner, is completely and totally unbelievable," Weekley's lawyer, Steve Fishman, told the judge last week.

Weekley was tried last year for involuntary manslaughter in Aiyana's death, but the first jury also failed to come to a decision. The next court date in the case has been set for Nov. 21.

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What, if anything, do you think he should be charged with?