The family of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was shot and killed in a hail of bullets inside her mother’s car in Atlanta last year, is now suing the city over her death.
Lawyers for the family said Monday they filed a complaint in Fulton County State Court accusing the city, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and other officials of being “negligent in their duties” to protect the girl, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“There is no dispute that this little girl was innocent — that this family was innocent,” attorney Shean Williams said at a press conference. “Did nothing wrong. On their way home, and they lost their little one.”
Along with Bottoms, the suit names Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant, City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, and Wendy’s International.
Secoriea was in her mother’s car near an Atlanta Wendy’s on July 4 when they came upon a group of armed men.
The men were part of a group protesting the June 12 police-custody death of Rayshard Brooks at the restaurant, which had since been burned down by demonstrators.
The car was blocked by the men, who fired eight shots into the vehicle when Secoriea’s mother, Charmaine Turner, turned her Jeep around and began to drive away.
Cops said as many as four men may have opened fire.
Less than two weeks after the girl’s death, 19-year-old Julian Conley turned himself in after prosecutors obtained a felony murder warrant for him.
Conley is being held without jail pending a murder trial in the case.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office called the death of the eight-year-old “a result of senseless gun violence.”
“The murder of Secoriea Turner, as a result of senseless gun violence, is a tragedy that no family should have to endure,” the spokesperson said. “Due to the anticipated litigation, the City will offer no further comment at this time.”
This is an excerpt from the New York Post.
