Posted on 03/13/2003 8:08:49 AM PST by wildbill
Slain girl's mom files $30 million lawsuit
Claiming federal agents had no reason to use deadly force against her daughter, the mother of a slain 14-year-old girl filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the two agents who she claims fired at Ashley Villarreal. The complaint seeks $30 million and potentially offers the most public review of the Feb. 9 encounter between the teenager and agents who were waiting to arrest her father, cocaine-trafficking suspect Joey Villarreal.
The case was filed in federal court a day after authorities asserted that Joey Villarreal knew about the stakeout and that his daughter was acting as a decoy when she drove along the street with her headlights off.
When investigators tried to stop her sedan, officials said, she rammed their unmarked vehicles and accelerated toward agents, who opened fire without being able to see who was at the wheel.
A lawyer for the girl's mother, Deborah De Luna Villarreal, dismissed this account as "the government laying out an alternate reality."
"I think there is a grave danger that reality is going to be distorted dramatically," said the attorney, Marynell Maloney. "How is a 14-year-old girl responsible to such a degree that she should be killed?"
The lawsuit is directed at two agents who, it asserts, are believed to have fired at the car: Bill Swierc and Jeff Kinnaman. The agents could not be reached for comment.
Authorities have not said who fired the fatal shot.
Maloney said a similar complaint against the agents' employer, the Drug Enforcement Administration, is in the works. Lawyers for Joey Villarreal have indicated they are preparing their own civil suit.
Should the case go to trial, it would offer possibly the most public review of the shooting at the intersection of South San Joaquin and Motes streets.
While the DEA and the San Antonio Police Department are separately examining the incident, it is unclear whether their findings will be released in detail.
A DEA spokesman, noting that the reviews still are under way, said it would be inappropriate for the agency to comment on the lawsuit.
The narrative described in the lawsuit says Ashley believed the agents were gang members. It also faults investigators for not seeing the girl climb into the car, emphasizing that minutes earlier she and a friend had put garbage cans on the stoop.
"This is a girl who's carrying out the trash, standing out there in the streetlight, and they're shooting her dead moments later," Maloney said. "It doesn't add up."
Described by Maloney as traumatized and grieving, Ashley's mother wasn't at a news conference held at the lawyer's office Wednesday.
Maloney said that, while the lawsuit seeks $10 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages, what Ashley's mom wants most is to prove that her daughter was a victim.
"The numbers are really difficult to determine. What is the worth of human life?" Maloney said. "The main point is this thing shouldn't have happened."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- mrobbins@express-news.net
03/13/2003
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When a driver tries to run down a cop (or agents), they are allowed to defend themselves using deadly force, or else they or other bystanders could be killed. It's a pity, but it's not the agents' fault.
Absolutely ... but ... how is it that the fatal shot came from the rear
However, shooting into a dark car at night without verification is highly recommended if the driver is trying to run you down.
"Family says she was learning to drive and wanted to drive the car around block and put it in garage."
How does this jibe with, "The narrative described in the lawsuit says Ashley believed the agents were gang members."
What, she wanted to show the gang members how well she could drive? If I'm dealing drugs and gang members are outside, the last thing I'm going to do is practice "Rules of the Road".
These agents were in plain clothes gang-banger wear. She probably thought she was getting car-jacked. You would drive desperately too if somebody in their finest urbanwear pointed a gun at your car.
The War on Some People Who Use Some Drugs (Only Because They Don't Generate Profits for Wall Street) claims yet another innocent victim.
The only uncontested facts here are that two undercover cops killed a 14 year old girl in an escalation of violence initiated by the cops. And they are sticking to their (stupid) story. The WOD is not worth this, or other police actions like Waco. If it takes big lawsuits like this to stop the WOD, then let's get down to it.
She was "learning how to drive" at 14. Another big factor for me.
Does Texas even allow driver permits for 14 year olds? Pretty sure you need to be 15 to start learning. Then her Uncle allows her to start driving at night with her lights off? Doubtful.
Sounds to me that she was told to "go get their attention", but instead of leading them on a chase, she ended up hitting one of their cars and driving right at some of the officers. How many officers were there? The suit is only brought against 2, but there were likely more if it were an operation to arrest her Father.
"But she was only 14!"
Nobody in harms way knew that, all they knew was a driver in a car was endangering law enforcement agents. Would you hesitate to pull the trigger on someone breaking into your house with a gun drawn? Would you try to find out how old they were before you took action? Of course not. Just because she was 14 doesn't mean that the car was made of soft foam. She could have killed them as easily as a 37 year old man with that car.
I know that there are many here who hate any law enforcement and think all cops and agents deserve to die. Those people are anarchists of a worse kind than any of the loony protestors.
Think a repeat of the violence brought by the first attempt at prohibition, only with much greater potential for abuse given the greater amounts being spent on this newest failed attempt to stem the consumption of a substance.
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