Nation - Louisiana Family sues city, ex-cops over fatal shooting of man

HOMER, La. (AP) -- The widow and children of a 73-year-old man shot and killed by police last year have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the town of Homer and the two former officers who were chasing the man's son. The lawsuit filed this week in Claiborne Parish District Court names Tim Cox and Joseph Henry as well as the town of Homer as defendants in the shooting on Feb. 20, 2009, of Bernard Monroe Sr., who was voiceless after cancer surgery. Many in the rural town of 3,800 were outraged by the shooting. Police said Monroe was armed, but witnesses said he just had a water bottle under one arm. Louise M. Monroe and her children -- Shaun Monroe, Bernard Monroe Jr., Stephanie Bell and Gerald Monroe -- ask unspecified damages for loss of financial and emotional support, emotional distress and funeral expenses. Shaun Monroe was the son police were chasing. A grand jury last week declined to indict Cox or Henry after hearing about 20 witnesses and considering and rejecting a range of charges including murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. Both officers resigned in July. According to the lawsuit, the officers had no just cause to enter Monroe's home while chasing Shaun Monroe. The lawsuit says Bernard Monroe Sr. walked from his front yard to his house to check on his elderly wife, who was inside, as Cox chased Shaun Monroe into the house. Shaun Monroe was hit twice in the back with a stun gun but was never charged with a criminal offense. The suit said Cox was inside Monroe's house and shot through a screen door, hitting him multiple times in the chest and body while Monroe stood "harmlessly on his own front porch." The Monroe family is represented by attorneys Sam N. Gregorio and Henry C. Walker, both of Shreveport, Morris S. Dees Jr., of Montgomery, Ala., and Glenn A. Perry, of Longview, Texas. The attorney general handled the grand jury presentation after the local prosecutor recused himself. "We believe it was a full, complete, accurate and thorough presentation conducted at a neutral site," Kurt Wall, director of the criminal division of the state attorney general's office, said after the "no true bill" was handed up Feb. 4. Published: Fri, Feb 12, 2010

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