Attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and the Action Injury Law Group, LLC on Monday, July 30, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Chicago police officer Sheldon Thrasher, and the City of Chicago for the unjustified shooting death of Maurice Granton Jr. The 24-year-old African American man was fatally shot in the back early in June by Officer Thrasher in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
The shooting occurred on June 6; after the family viewed video of the incident, the lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
The attorneys and the family held a press conference in Chicago on Monday to announce that the lawsuit had been filed. Granton’s father and the mother of his two daughters attended the press conference.
“Today I’m seeking justice for my son and all the parents and families. Too many of them across Chicagoland and the country have to endure the pain of losing a child to unjustified police violence,” said Maurice Granton, Sr.
The complaint, filed on behalf of Granton Jr., alleges that Wentworth District tactical officers were conducting a narcotics investigation when they were directed nearby to the 300 block of East 47th Street. Surveillance video footage showed Granton Jr. and others standing under the CTA Green Line, when a squad car pulled up, and the men scattered. Later footage shows Granton Jr. being chased down an alley and leaping a wooden fence with both hands, and later, running across a vacant lot before jumping onto a wrought-iron fence when, the complaint alleges, the officer raised his gun and fired three fatal shots into Granton Jr.’s back.
“The overwhelming evidence in this case shows that Granton Jr., a father of two young daughters, was not a fleeing felon, and having had both hands on the fence at the time of the shooting, did not pose an imminent threat to police officers on the scene, and yet, another young Black man is dead at the hands of the Chicago Police Department,” said Antonio M. Romanucci, principal and partner of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. “The family of Maurice Granton Jr. deserves justice, and through this action, we are determined to get it for them.”
“The Chicago Police Department has consistently stated over the last several weeks that the incident was an armed confrontation, yet the body camera video footage never shows Granton Jr. armed at any time during the incident,” added Andrew M. Stroth, Managing Partner, Action Injury Law Group, LLC. “The use of deadly force by the police in this situation makes clear that our city’s officers lack proper training.”
