Federal lawsuit planned in police shooting of 12-year-old
Nationally-known civil rights attorney Geoffrey Fieger of Michigan and a Pittsburgh attorney are planning to file a federal civil rights suit next week against two state troopers from the Uniontown barracks for allegedly shooting and killing 12-year-old Michael Ellerbe on Christmas Eve. Pittsburgh attorney Joel Sansone, who has been representing the Ellerbe family, said, at his request, Fieger flew into Pittsburgh Monday to examine the case.
After speaking with Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht, who performed the autopsy, Fieger agreed to join the case, Sansone said.
“He really has come to Fayette County to bring war,” Sansone said. “He’s fearful of a police cover up. He’s fearful that police will try to protect their own.”
Sansone said they will file the suit against troopers Juan Curry and Samuel Nassan early next week in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
Sansone would not specify the amount of money they will seek, but said the case has national repercussions and the award has to “send a message that you don’t shoot unarmed people in the back.”
Fieger told reporters who gathered at Sansone’s office that police would have reacted differently if a white boy had been killed, Sansone said.
Ellerbe’s father, Michael Hickenbottom, said he wants to know what really happened to his son and he is not worried about money.
“I’m not concerned about money,” Ellerbe’s father Michael Hickenbottom said. “I’m concerned about the reason my baby died.”
State police in Uniontown have released only general information about the incident while they continue their investigation into the case and their internal investigation into the officers’ actions.
“The police have told me nothing. I just want the truth. If the dude made a mistake, he made a mistake. They’re not talking to anybody but themselves. Why did he shoot my baby? That’s all I want to know,” Hickenbottom said. “I miss my son and I want some peace.”
He said if the attorneys seek damages in a lawsuit, the money would be their compensation.
“I guess that’s how they get paid,” Hickenbottom said.
Along with the state police investigation, the FBI is conducting a criminal civil rights investigation into the shooting.
Curry and Nassan have been on administrative assignments since the incident occurred.
Police and witnesses are expected to give their accounts of the pursuit and shooting at a coroner’s inquest, which is scheduled for Jan. 27. A trooper from the state police training academy is also expected to testify about use of force training and policies.
The pursuit began after the stolen vehicle, a 1986 Ford Bronco owned by Wade Allen Friend Jr. of Whyle Road, North Union Township, was spotted at Byers Market on Connellsville Street with two black males inside at 2:07 p.m.
Officers were chasing the Bronco when the suspect wrecked the vehicle in an alley off Cleveland Avenue, police said. The suspect then fled on foot and the troopers chased him on foot. During the chase, shots were fired and the fleeing suspect was struck at approximately 2:30 p.m., police said.
Sansone has said he was told by sources close to the case that one officer fell during the foot chase and his gun discharged during the fall. The second officer heard the shot, believed that the first office had been shot and shot Ellerbe.
An autopsy reportedly revealed that he was shot in the back.
A candidate for governor in Michigan in 1998, Fieger also costarred in the Fox reality television show, “Power of Attorney.’ He has taken part in a number of high-profile cases, including representing the family of a man killed over a gay crush revealed during a taping of the “Jenny Jones Show.’
He also represented assisted suicide-advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian for nearly 10 years and won a number of acquittals. Kerorkian is serving time in jail after representing himself at his last trial.