Leid Stories - 04.02.15

Q’s Life Still Matters: A Family’s Quest for Justice In A Police Killing      (Part 4)

L’Sana DJahspora has been describing the heart-wrenching anguish and utter frustration his family has been experiencing since the night of Nov. 6, 2014. It was when he learned that his son, 20-year-old Cinque "Q" DJahspora, was shot dead by a police officer in Jackson, Tennessee, near the condominium complex where L'Sana and his son lived. 
Q was shot in the back. A single bullet wound indicated that the bullet's trajectory was downward; it pierced Q's body while he was prone on the ground. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. 
The family's repeated efforts to get information and official documents from the police department and the prosecutor's office about the circumstances of Q's death -- which L'Sana calls an "execution" -- were met t silence,  noncooperation and indifference, the father said. And both a preliminary investigation and an "open-and-shut" grand jury probe likewise were unknown and off-limits to them, L'Sana said. They learned of the grand jury proceeding only after District Attorney Jerry Woodall announced March 4 that Officer Raymond Dewayne Bond would not be indicted. 
L'Sana  concludes his four-part interview today with more details about the family's continuing pursuit of justice, his accusation of official misconduct and a coverup, and the activist work he's more determined than ever to do to stop the rising tide of police killings across the country.