Post by WaTcHeR on Jul 6, 2006 14:25:20 GMT -5
07.06.2006 - After being shot 21 times by police, a mentally ill Memphis man is suing the Memphis Police Department.
Willie Hester Jr. accuses officers of violating his civil rights and outrageous conduct. The shooting happened July 4th, 2005, and now his mother is speaking out.
“He’s in a lot of pain his hands is deformed,” said Joyce Hester. “They shot him in the foot. They shot his butts, his chest, his stomach, his leg, his back.”
Joyce Hester says after the shooting, her son spent three months in intensive care.
25-year-old Willie Hester is Schizophrenic and is also diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. His mother says the night the shooting happened, the death of Hester's grandmother had triggered a psychotic episode.
The shooting happened on Holmes just west of Getwell in southeast Memphis. The suit says Hester and his cousin were walking down Holmes when they were stopped by a Memphis police officer. The police report from that day says the officer stopped Hester called for back up after seeing him with a gun.
According to Hester's attorney, his client did have a hand gun in the waistband of his trousers, but he says he never pointed it at police. In fact, according to the lawsuit, he pointed it to his head threatening to commit suicide.
Attorney William Winchester says the police hand book requires officers to call the "Crisis Unit," officers that are specially trained to handle these situations. But the suit claims "The Memphis Police Department's Crisis Team was never called."
Hester's mother says officers knew because her nephew explained tp them that her son was mentally ill.
“That's what upsets me most,” said Joyce Hester. “That they didn't try to get him any help.”
The suit also accuses officers of "Outrageous Conduct" after Hester was shot 21 times. Two of those shots came from a twelve gauge shotgun. The suit says officers continued to fire even after Hester was on the ground.
For this family, this is clear brutality.
"This does not make sense to me at all,” said Hester’s attorney. “Being shot 21 times, especially with the trajectory of the bullets that they found in him, they came in from the bottom of his feet, from his backside, from his buttocks.”
Eyewitness News contacted Memphis police about these allegations, but a spokesperson said the department couldn’t comment because it’s not clear where the case stands.
Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell is also named in this lawsuit. The suit claims jailers failed to give Hester medication for his pain and his mental illness.
A sheriff spokesperson says medicines are never withheld from inmates provided the county's doctors approve the drugs.
www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=30F1C6D0-A6F7-4CFD-8D1B-C142B61A5B56
Willie Hester Jr. accuses officers of violating his civil rights and outrageous conduct. The shooting happened July 4th, 2005, and now his mother is speaking out.
“He’s in a lot of pain his hands is deformed,” said Joyce Hester. “They shot him in the foot. They shot his butts, his chest, his stomach, his leg, his back.”
Joyce Hester says after the shooting, her son spent three months in intensive care.
25-year-old Willie Hester is Schizophrenic and is also diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. His mother says the night the shooting happened, the death of Hester's grandmother had triggered a psychotic episode.
The shooting happened on Holmes just west of Getwell in southeast Memphis. The suit says Hester and his cousin were walking down Holmes when they were stopped by a Memphis police officer. The police report from that day says the officer stopped Hester called for back up after seeing him with a gun.
According to Hester's attorney, his client did have a hand gun in the waistband of his trousers, but he says he never pointed it at police. In fact, according to the lawsuit, he pointed it to his head threatening to commit suicide.
Attorney William Winchester says the police hand book requires officers to call the "Crisis Unit," officers that are specially trained to handle these situations. But the suit claims "The Memphis Police Department's Crisis Team was never called."
Hester's mother says officers knew because her nephew explained tp them that her son was mentally ill.
“That's what upsets me most,” said Joyce Hester. “That they didn't try to get him any help.”
The suit also accuses officers of "Outrageous Conduct" after Hester was shot 21 times. Two of those shots came from a twelve gauge shotgun. The suit says officers continued to fire even after Hester was on the ground.
For this family, this is clear brutality.
"This does not make sense to me at all,” said Hester’s attorney. “Being shot 21 times, especially with the trajectory of the bullets that they found in him, they came in from the bottom of his feet, from his backside, from his buttocks.”
Eyewitness News contacted Memphis police about these allegations, but a spokesperson said the department couldn’t comment because it’s not clear where the case stands.
Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell is also named in this lawsuit. The suit claims jailers failed to give Hester medication for his pain and his mental illness.
A sheriff spokesperson says medicines are never withheld from inmates provided the county's doctors approve the drugs.
www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=30F1C6D0-A6F7-4CFD-8D1B-C142B61A5B56