Free Republic

DELRAY BEACH — The family of Jerrod Miller is seeking $7.5 million from the city for the police shooting death of the teenager, attorney Willie Gary said Friday. In a letter to city-hired attorney Fred Gelston, Gary cites the city's recent contract with a nonprofit police chiefs' group to review the police department's use-of-force policies as an insufficient response to Miller's death. The 16-year-old was fatally shot by rookie officer Darren Cogoni as he drove a borrowed car through a school breezeway during a dance. "While that is a step in the right direction to reduce the chances of someone...

In the senseless tragedy that ended with an officer's bullet in a teenager's head, some nagging concerns are getting the attention they deserve. Delray Beach's black community is seeking more influence over a police force it doesn't trust. The city's leadership is trying to find a more inclusive way of reaching out to its diverse constituency. (Hint: More sensitivity and less spin would go a long way.) And prosecutors are deciding how to charge the rookie officer who fired the fatal shot. But one looming question has yet to be appropriately addressed: In the search for accountability in Jerrod Miller's...

Rookie police officer Darren Cogoni should be charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting a fleeing teenage driver at a school dance, a judge declared this morning in concluding a rare public inquest. County Judge Debra Moses Stephens announced that there is probable cause to charge the officer in the Feb. 26 death of16-year-old Jerrod Miller. "There is no competent evidence that the killing was excusable or justifiable," the judge ruled following three days of testimony from investigators, school administrators and students who were present the night of the shooting. Members of Miller's family solomnly embraced and hugged following the ruling....

DELRAY BEACH -- Amid the sound of blaring car stereos, more than 350 black people packed the sidewalks of West Atlantic Avenue Sunday night to demand the city create more entertainment and allow them to gather there on a regular basis. [snip] "We came here because there's nothing social for us to do," said Crystal Carter, 32, who stood with her son, Crystopher, 11. "We're all enjoying this. We even brought our kids out." The avenue started filling up in front of the gas stations between Eighth and 10th avenues about 7:30 p.m. after a coordinated football game and a...

Saying he wants to put public concern to rest, State Attorney Barry Krischer on Thursday took the unusual step of seeking a public hearing known as a coroner's inquest -- into last month's shooting death of 16-year-old Jerrod Miller by a rookie Delray Beach police officer. It is only the second time in Krischer's 12-year tenure that he has sought such a hearing. The first one was the July 2003 coroner's inquest into the hanging death of Belle Glade resident Feraris Golden. Golden was found hanging from a tree in his grandmother's yard earlier that year, sparking rumors that he...

WEST PALM BEACH — About 125 people attended an emotional news conference Thursday morning at which attorney Willie Gary announced that he would go after "in a vicious way" those responsible for the police shooting death of a 16-year-old. "We will not sit idly by and let this happen time and time again in our community," Gary said. He also announced he would be filing lawsuits early next week against those responsible for Saturday night's shooting death of Jerrod Miller by a rookie Delray Beach police officer outside a teen dance at the Delray Full Service Center.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A police officer fatally shot a 16-year-old boy outside a high school dance who was driving his car recklessly on campus grounds, officials said. Jerrod Miller, a sophomore at Olympic Heights High School, died after he was shot about 9 p.m. outside a dance at another school, Delray Full Service Center, The Palm Beach Post reported. Miller dropped off other kids at the dance and left, Delray Beach police said. Then he returned and drove through the campus and its outdoor corridors, police said. Students were dodging his car. An officer fired a shot in...

DELRAY BEACH -- The officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy outside a school dance Saturday had less than a month's experience patrolling the streets on his own, according to information released by officials Monday. Officer Darren Cogoni, 23, was hired by the Police Department in March. He was placed on administrative leave after the Saturday night shooting of Jerrod Miller on the campus of the Delray Full Service Center, a school for students with behavioral problems. Officials said Miller drove onto the campus after being approached by the officer. Cogoni had completed his field training, where he worked under...