Family says 7-year-old girl fatally shot by Detroit police during search was asleep on sofa

Family: 7-year-old shot by police was asleep

DETROIT — Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was asleep on the living room sofa in her family’s apartment when Detroit police searching for a homicide suspect burst in and an officer’s gun went off, fatally striking the girl in the neck, family members say.

Her father, 25-year-old Charles Jones, told The Detroit News he had just gone to bed early Sunday after covering his daughter with her favorite Disney princess blanket when he heard a flash grenade followed by a gunshot. When he rushed into the living room, he said, police forced him to lie on the ground, with his face in his daughter’s blood.

“I’ll never be the same. That’s my only daughter,” Jones told WXYZ-TV.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said officers set off the flash grenade as they entered the apartment with their guns drawn about 12:40 a.m. Sunday with a warrant to look for a suspect in the Friday slaying of a 17-year-old boy. The lead officer’s gun went off after he encountered a 46-year-old woman inside the front room of the home and “some level of physical contact” ensued. Police do not believe the gun was fired intentionally.

“This is any parent’s worst nightmare. It also is any police officer’s worst nightmare,” Godbee said.

Family members identified the woman as the child’s grandmother and Charles Jones’ mother, Mertilla Jones, who has said she was not involved in a struggle with the officer. Police later said the officer may have just collided with the woman.

The officer was put on paid administrative leave and police are investigating, Godbee said.

“This is a tragedy of unspeakable magnitude to Aiyana’s parents, family and all those who loved her,” Godbee said. “It is a tragedy we also feel very deeply throughout the ranks of the Detroit Police Department.”

Charles Jones said he had to wait for hours to find out what happened to his daughter.

“Her blood was everywhere and I was trying to stay calm, but nobody would talk to me. None of them even tried to console me,” Jones told The Detroit News.

The officers had a search warrant and were looking for a 34-year-old man suspected in the shooting death of Jarean Blake. Officers arrested the suspect during a search of the building, Godbee said.

Godbee would not comment on newspaper reports that neighbors told police there were children in the house and showed them toys in the front yard. The girl’s father said three other children besides Aiyana were in the home when the raid happened.

Charles Jones said he was trying not to be angry but wanted the story to be told. He said Aiyana was a lively child who loved to sing and had recently developed an interest in Hannah Montana and the Justin Bieber song “Baby.”

“She was just figuring out what she liked, what she wanted to do with her life,” her father said. “I want this story to be heard. This was a wrongful death.”