Families and community leaders respond to COPA’s recent findings in the fatal shootings of Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier.<\/b>
\nCHICAGO (CBS) \u2014 The family of a woman fatally shot by a Chicago Police officer is asking prosecutors to re-open the case.
\u201cTo live without our mother \u2014 she meant everything to us. And now she\u2019s gone. She\u2019s gone,\u201d said Latonya Jones, one of the victim\u2019s daughters.
In 2015,55-year-old Bettie Jones opened her apartment building door for officers responding to a neighbor\u2019s domestic disturbance. One of the officers, Robert Rialmo, fired at 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, who had a bat.
LeGrier was killed; Jones was fatally shot by accident.
\u201cShe got her life taken away for helping,\u201d Latonya said.
Early this year, prosecutors elected not to criminally charge Rialmo. However, in late December, the city of Chicago\u2019s new police oversight agency, known as COPA, found Rialmo was not justified in firing his weapon.
\u201cState\u2019s Attorney Kim Foxx needs to reexamine the findings that they had in this case \u2014 where they simply exonerated the officer,\u201d said Rev. Marshall Hatch with New Mount Pilgrim Church. \u201cShe needs to reopen this case; he needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.\u201d
Speaking from the church Sunday where both Jones and LeGrier\u2019s funeral services were held, family members and activists asked not only for additional legal scrutiny, but also for Rialmo\u2019s badge and gun to be taken away.
\u201cIf he has access to a gun and a badge, he is a clear and present danger to the public,\u201d Rev. Hatch said.
Rialmo is currently on desk duty.
Rialmo\u2019s attorney says his client was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, adding the COPA report doesn\u2019t bring any new facts to light and, thus, a reexamination of the case isn\u2019t warranted by the State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office.
CBS 2 reached out to the State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office and COPA for additional comment; neither have returned our messages.<\/p>\n

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