On October 9, 2009, unarmed youth Kiwane Carrington was shot and killed by a Champaign police officer in the backyard of a North Champaign home. The shooting was later ruled to be accidental. Last October, a civil suit filed on behalf of Jeshaun Manning-Carter (the other youth at the scene) and his mother, Laura Manning, made headlines locally with its allegation that Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney, and not Officer Daniel Norbits, fired the shot that killed Carrington.
Approximately six weeks after the original complaint was filed, plaintiff’s attorney Alfred Ivy filed an amended complaint which no longer implicated Finney as the shooter. In January, defense attorney David Krchak filed a motion to dismiss. On Monday, March 21, a motion of the Defendants to dismiss the complaint is set to be heard at 11 a.m. in Courtroom H at the Champaign County Courthouse.
Here are the filings in the case thus far (all are pdfs):
- Original Complaint filed 10/6/10
- Amended Complaint filed 11/24/10
- Motion to Dismiss filed 1/28/11
- Memorandum of Law regarding Motion to Dismiss filed 1/28/11
- Plaintiff Response to Motion to Dismiss filed 2/24/11
Krchak, member of local firm Thomas, Mamer, and Haughey, declined to be interviewed regarding this case.
Ivy explained the change in language in the amended complaint as follows: “If we focus on who the shooter is, we forget who the person is. It’s the exact same case. This case is not about who fired the gun, it’s about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.”
Asked whether Manning-Carter had changed his story, Ivy was circumspect. “His statement is that what happened is different than the official report,” he said. “One of them pulled the trigger. Whether it was the chief or the officer, we need to dig deeper. It doesn’t mean he’s lying. What if the official report is wrong?”
He continued, “If this case survives… my desire is to see that justice is done, separate from any monetary judgment… to make sure that this type of thing doesn’t happen again.”