Community to remember shooting victim a year later
It was one year ago today when 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe of Uniontown was shot and killed during a police chase, and the group People Against Police Violence will hold a ceremony and protest today to mark the anniversary. “It will be a year ago today, so we decided that we’re going to put a wreath on his grave site and make sure nobody forgot about him,” said Darlene Dennis of the Uniontown chapter of the Pittsburgh-based PAPV.
Part protest and part remembrance, the ceremony will begin at 2:10 p.m. outside of the Fayette County Courthouse. A wreath will be laid at 2:20 p.m., the time when Ellerbe was shot.
Ellerbe’s father, Michael Hickenbottom, stepmother, Renee Randolph, and other family members, friends and activists are expected to attend.
The ceremony will then move to Sylvan Heights Cemetery, where Ellerbe was buried, Dennis said.
Ellerbe, who reportedly ran away from home the previous day, was shot while fleeing on foot from two state troopers in an alley off Cleveland Avenue in the city’s East End on Dec. 24, 2002.
The troopers, Samuel Nassan and Juan Curry, testified in a coroner’s inquest in January that they were chasing Ellerbe in a Ford Bronco that had been reported stolen when Ellerbe wrecked and fled on foot.
Nassan said Ellerbe ignored repeated commands to show his hands. He said the boy was running with his body at an angle and with one hand in a pants pocket.
At one point, Curry passed Nassan during the foot chase. Curry had his gun drawn as he attempted to jump over a fence at 61 Cleveland Ave., but he fell and his gun discharged.
Nassan caught up to Curry in time to hear the shot and see him fall to the ground. Believing that Ellerbe had shot Curry, Nassan fired at Ellerbe.
The bullet struck the boy in the back and punctured his heart.
A few days after the coroner’s jury ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide, District Attorney Nancy Vernon announced that her investigation concluded that the police acted appropriately under the law and that criminal charges were not warranted.
An internal police investigation found that neither trooper violated department regulations, and no disciplinary action was taken.
The U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI are continuing to investigate the shooting.
Both officers were placed on administrative assignments after the incident. Curry returned to active duty at the Uniontown barracks in June, and Nassan transferred to another station shortly after the shooting.
Nassan was a rookie trooper but served as a police officer in the military before he joined the department. Curry is a department veteran.
Ellerbe’s family has filed a civil wrongful death suit against the officers in federal court.