Posted on 11/11/2008 9:59:05 AM PST by SmithL
Duanna Johnson, 43, was shot in the head at Hollywood and Staten in North Memphis late Sunday. She died at the scene.
Although the Memphis Police Department identified the victim as Dwayne Johnson, attorney Murray Wells said the victim was the person he knew as Duanna.
"I have what I consider to be extremely reliable information that it's her," he said.
Johnson was beaten in February in the booking area at 201 Poplar after an arrest on a prostitution charge.
Memphis police officers Bridges McRae and James Swain were fired after the incident, which became public when Johnson's attorneys released a video of the beating to local media.
Johnson planned to file a lawsuit against the officers and the department, Wells said, and those plans will go forward on behalf of her estate.
"There'll be just a couple of legal hoops we'll have to jump through," he said.
"The case is, I think, just as strong as it was before, especially with the video."
Wells said he'd talked with Johnson Sunday, and that she'd been assisting the federal government with its investigation of the case.
Johnson didn't have any family in Memphis, but Wells said he was in contact Monday with her mother in Kenosha, Wis.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
A witness told investigators at least three males, "possibly young," left the scene after at least one shot was fired. No suspects were in custody.
In June, Johnson's attorneys called for the city to establish a hate-crime law and for the MPD to require sensitivity training.
MPD spokeswoman Monique Martin issued a release in October announcing eight hours of cultural diversity training for employees conducted by the Shelby County chapter of the Tennessee Equality Project.
Police director Larry Godwin acknowledged in the release officers' responsibility to serve the various cultures and lifestyles found locally.
Johnson's death came a day after she told Wells she wanted to get on a bus for Chicago and leave Memphis behind.
"It's sad," he said, "and I guess the only thing I know is it doesn't change my concern over what happened to her with the Memphis Police Department."
This is Memphis, not San Francisco!
can you smell ‘hate’ crime?
that’s a pretty rough 5 o’clock shadow for ol Duanna
Another special crime with special penalties applied to the perpetrator. Heck, if the victim was normal, the story would have made the back page of the local paper followed by a feeble local attempt to catch the criminal.
OH GOD MY EYES!!!
I’m sorry he/she was murdered, but that’s just ugly.
Memphis? or “Memphrica”?
May God have mercy on the soul of this poor confused child of His.
May Duanna/Duane rest in peace.
Is that Michelle?
Murder is not the answer.
He/She/It is Human and deserves better.
I thought it was Milli Vanilli.
Smith! Did you have to remind me?
This is a sad story........ These kind of people are very mentally ill and need help....... It must be a horrible way to have to live. Okay, I don’t think they’d appreciate me saying that they’re mentally ill, but still.....
Well this victim wasn’t normal, it was a freak.
Still, it didn’t deserve to get beat to death.
Former Memphis police officers Bridges McRae and James Swain
should be held accountable.
The victim was a mutilated and disturbed man, not a woman. The newspaper only perpetuates suffering by indulging the disorder.
Sometimes we say more than we mean to.
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