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Family demands answers after unarmed Illinois man is killed by police, girlfriend injured

Police in Waukegan, Illinois, shot and killed an unarmed teenage Black man and critically injured his girlfriend on the night of Oct. 20.

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Marcellis Stinnette police shooting
Marcellis Stinnette and Tafarra Williams

Police in Waukegan, Illinois, shot and killed Marcellis Stinnette, an unarmed teenage Black man ,and critically injured his girlfriend on the night of Oct. 20, ABC 7 reports.

Marcellis Stinnette and his girlfriend police encounter

The family of 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette said he was sitting in a car with his girlfriend and mother of his child, Tafarra Williams, when police shot and killed him. Stinnette’s family said he died at the scene, while police said he died at the hospital.

Williams’ family alleges that police shot her in the stomach and hand, for which she remains hospitalized.

“When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing,'” Williams’ mother, Clifftina Johnson, told ABC 7.

“My daughter said she put her hand up, and if she didn’t put her hand up, she said, ‘Mama, I would be dead.'”

Report of a suspicious vehicle

Police said the incident began when they received a report of a suspicious vehicle, however the families of both victims said they were just sitting in their car outside Williams’ mother’s home. The police said when an officer approached the car to investigate, Stinnette and Williams fled the scene.

Tafarra Williams and Marcellis Stinnette allegedly fled on foot

Another officer reportedly spotted the car nearby moments later, and when he approached the couple on foot, the car reversed. The officer fired his pistol “in fear for his safety,” according to a statement from the Waukegan Police Department given to ABC 7.

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“The police officer got out of the car. When he told them to stop, he told her to stop, she was scared,” Mosier told ABC 7. “She put up hands, she started yelling, ‘Why you got a gun?’ She started screaming. He just started shooting.”

Police said they found no weapons in the couple’s car.

The families are demanding answers

At a press conference Wednesday, the Stinnette and Williams’ families said they are demanding more answers and justice in the case.

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“We’re looking for peace and justice. That’s all we want,” Francellise Stinnette-Watts, Marcellis’ great-aunt, said. “We want to know what happened. We would like to see the video camera.”

“They were not thugs and were not problematic kids,” family spokesman Ricky Carly said. “They didn’t have any issues with anybody out here.”

The Stinnette family is trying to make peace with Marcellis’ death.

“And the police officer, he’s forgiven,” said Sherrellis Sheria Stinnette, mother of Marcellis. “I have to forgive him. That’s what God wants me to do.”

“We would like justice, but we also would like police reform, said Zhanellis Banks, sister of Marcellis.

Officers involved in the shooting

The officer who fatally shot Stinnette and injured Williams has been fired, authorities announced late Friday.

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An officer who shot the couple is Hispanic and had been with the Waukegan Police Department for five years. The officer who conducted the original traffic stop is white, police said.

Through departmental policy, the Illinois State Police will conduct an investigation. Waukegan Police submitted body camera and squad car video to the Illinois State Police, authorities said.

Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham encouraged anyone with additional information or surveillance video to bring forth evidence for investigators to make the best decision.


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Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

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Crime & Justice

New Jersey detective shot and killed after suspects kicked in front door of her home

Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.

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Monica Mosley
Det. Sgt. Monica Mosley is seen in a photo released by the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office.

Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.

New Jersey detective Monica Mosley killed

Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley, with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, was fatally shot at her home in Bridgeton on Tuesday night, according to police.

The incident

Bridgeton Police responded to the home around 10:30 p.m. for a report of “several subjects kicking in a front door at a residence,” the Bridgeton Police Department said in a press release.

Mosley, 51, died at the scene, police said.

An individual who had been treated for a gunshot wound at a nearby hospital was detained for questioning in connection with the incident, police said. No additional information on the individual was released.

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Law enforcement career

Mosley began her career in 2006 at the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office as a paralegal specialist. She then became a county detective in 2009, “where she served our community with honor, dignity and respect before her untimely passing,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a statement.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy expressed he was “outraged and heartbroken by the murder” of Mosley.

“As a detective with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, Sgt. Mosley served her community with distinction, working every day to ensure the safety and well-being of the people of Cumberland County,” he said in a statement. “This act of violence impacts our entire law enforcement community and all of New Jersey.”

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No arrests have been made or charges filed in the case, police said.

Multiple agencies are investigating the deadly shooting, including the State Police Major Crime Bureau, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bridgeton Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau.


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Police

Phoenix police officers punch, taser deaf Black man with cerebral palsy under false claims

A Black man, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is facing felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest charges after he was repeatedly punched and tasered by a pair of Phoenix police officers.

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Tyron McAlpin deaf Black man tased and punched by Phoenix police officers
Screenshot via ABC15 Arizona

Update October 19: All charges have been dismissed against Tyron McAlpin.

Original story

Tyron McAlpin, a Black man, who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is facing felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest charges after he was repeatedly punched and tasered by a pair of Phoenix police officers.

Tyron McAlpin Phoenix deaf Black man police incident

Acting on false claims from a white man under investigation, body camera video recently released to the public shows officers unexpectedly go after McAlpin, punch him in the head at least 10 times, Taser him four times, and wrap their arms around his neck.

Internal investigation

Despite the incident August 19 being the subject of an internal investigation, Phoenix police and Maricopa County prosecutors continue to pursue a criminal case against McAlpin.

Body camera video of Tyron McAlpin police incident

According to ABC15, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Nick Saccone found there was probable cause for his Aug. 19, 2024, arrest, stating McAlpin fought officers and didn’t comply.

Video of the incident shows officers immediately getting out of their vehicle and attacking McAlpin as he was walking.

McAlpin allegedly attempted to defend himself and fight back against the officers as he was being attacked. As a result, he was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to ABC15 Arizona.

According to the police report, McAlpin was arrested by Officers Benjamin Harris and Kyle Sue.

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Claims are false says attorneys

McAlpin’s attorneys said body camera video and surveillance footage show the officers’ claims are false and said there’s an obvious explanation for why he couldn’t comply.

“The answer is easy. He’s deaf. He couldn’t understand what they were doing. And he had done nothing wrong,” Showalter told ABC15 Arizona.

“Everything I see in that video is Tyron just trying to avoid being harmed by these officers and that only makes them increase the escalation and the violence that they’re using.”

Tyron McAlpin’s arrest

The arrest stems from a morning call from Circle K convenience store employees who reported that a white man was causing problems and wouldn’t leave the store, records show.

While being trespassed, the man claimed he was assaulted by a Black man and pointed across the street at McAlpin.

Officers Harris and Sue never confirmed the validity of the man’s claims and left him to go after McAlpin.

ABC15 Arizona reports the man’s assault claim was later refuted by store employees and surveillance video, records show.

After reportedly handcuffing McAlpin, his wife arrived at the arrest and told the officers that he was deaf and had cerebral palsy, according to body camera footage. None of the officers at the scene included any information about McAplin’s disabilities.

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McAlpin’s initial pretrial conference is scheduled for November 13, and his trial is scheduled for late February.


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Police

Judge rules Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend caused her death, dismisses major charges against former Louisville officers

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a warrant.

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Kenneth Walker lawsuit settled
Breonna Taylor/Kenneth Walker

A federal judge has ruled that Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend was responsible for the beloved EMT’s death.

From the case, the judge also dismissed major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her.

Judge rules Breonna Taylor’s death was not from warrant

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling declared that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a warrant.

Charges dismissed

Federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were filed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022. Garland accused Jaynes and Meany, who were not present at the botched raid, of knowing they had falsified part of the warrant and put Taylor in a precarious situation by sending armed officers to her apartment.

But Simpson wrote in the Aug 27 Tuesday ruling that “there is no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death.” Simpson’s ruling effectively reduced the civil rights violation charges against Jaynes and Meany, which had carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, to misdemeanors.

The judge did not dismiss the conspiracy charge against Jaynes and another charge against Meany, who is accused of making false statements to investigators.

Botched raid

When police executed a drug warrant and broke down Taylor’s door in March 2020, Walker fired a shot that struck an officer in the leg. Walker said he believed an intruder was bursting in. Officers returned fire, striking and killing 26-year-old Taylor in her hallway.

See also  Body camera video released in fatal Texas police shooting of Joshua Feast

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Simpson resolved that Walker’s “conduct became the proximate, or legal, cause of Taylor’s death.”

“While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that (Walker) disrupted those events when he decided to open fire” on the police, Simpson wrote.

Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend lawsuit

Walker was initially arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer.

The charge was later dismissed after his attorneys successfully argued Walker didn’t know he was firing at police.

He later filed a federal lawsuit against the city and police and received a $2 million settlement.

CBS reports a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to the news outlet that the department is reviewing the judge’s decision and assessing next steps.

 

 


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