Lawyers for a Black St. Louis teenager who was shot and killed 10 years ago today by white police officers said the city needs to pay the family the nearly $19 million awarded by a jury.
The incident revolves around the 2015 killing of Mansur Ball-Bey. He was shot by two white St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers who were conducting a search warrant on the 1200 block of Walton Avenue.
A federal jury ruled in January in favor of Dennis Ball-Bey, Mansur’s father. The city has since filed several motions, arguing that it should have been able to present certain arguments during the trial, including photos showing Ball-Bey smoking weed.
City attorneys are trying to damage Ball-Bey’s reputation, said Javad Khazaeli, a lawyer from firm Khazaeli Wyrsch who is representing the family.
“They’re trying to slime Mansur,” Khazaeli said. “It’s gross, it’s disgusting and they’re not going to get away with this.”
City attorneys argued that a new trial is warranted in part because the judge prevented its attorneys defending former St. Louis officer Kyle Chandler from introducing evidence that alleged Ball-Bey was a member of a gang and used drugs. City attorneys said Ball-Bey’s lawyers presented extra evidence not related to the case, including material that “permitted a rosy picture of the decedent Mansur without challenge.” That included “pictures of Mansur as a child, at his high school graduation, and with his family” and testimony that he helped his sister with cerebral palsy.
Jermaine Wooten, who also represents the family, called the city’s claims “ludicrous,” saying there were aspects of Ball-Bey’s personal life that the judge wouldn’t let them use either, like his plans to become an engineer and his college aspirations.
“Likewise, she didn't allow the city to get the information they were trying to get in,” Wooten said. “So the judge gave fair rulings on both ends.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Cara Spencer said they do not comment on pending litigation.
The road to this point has been everything but smooth with twists and turns over the past 10 years.
Police had argued they shot Ball-Bey because he had pointed a gun at them, but Ball-Bey’s lawyers argued he had tossed the gun before officers shot and killed him. Lawyers representing the Ball-Bey family say he was unarmed at the time of the shooting. Ball-Bey’s gun was found 162 feet away from his body. A bullet fired by Chandler had pieced his back, severing his spine.
Less than a year after the shooting, then-circuit attorney Jennifer Joyce declined to charge the two officers in Ball-Bey’s death, announcing that there was not enough evidence to bring charges.
"I’m not saying that this shooting was justified. I would not say that," she said at the time. "I am saying that based on the evidence that we have, there is no way that any criminal charges could be brought against these two officers."
Ball-Bey’s lawyers questioned the 2016 report’s conclusions, including that of the coroner who filed two reports, an initial one that said Ball-Bey’s spine was severed and a subsequent one claiming it could have been nicked or severed later during the arrest. Ball-Bey’s lawyers brought in a spinal specialist who argued only intense force could cause a severed spinal cord.
“He said there are only certain things that fully sever our spine, and the things that he mentioned were bullets, knives and buildings,” Khazaeli said. “You don't do that by making it and then having five guys fall on top of each other. If that were true, you would see fully severed spines in every NFL football game.”
Dennis Ball-Bey said he would support criminal charges being filed against the two officers.
“That's still part of seeking justice,” Dennis Ball-Bey said.
To hear the full conversation between Dennis Ball-Bey and attorneys Javad Khazaeli and Jermaine Wooten, tune into St. Louis on the Air at noon.
