- Police Brutality Watch

13-year civil case finally has ruling - - Unarmed Teen with both Hands in the Air Murdered by Cops

It was a long time ago, 13 years to be exact, that the name Corey Horton rang out like a call to action on the streets of New Orleans. In the days after the unarmed 16-year-old was fatally shot by police at a busy Gentilly intersection, state and federal investigations were launched, protests drew hundreds of demonstrators, and the New Orleans Police Department closed ranks around what it determined to be a justified shooting. In Horton's death, some saw a homegrown version of the beating of motorist Rodney King that rocked Los Angeles in 1991. At one rally in Horton's neighborhood, marchers hit the street with a giant banner that read, "Charge killer cops." The pace of the litigation may have been glacial, but the all-but-forgotten lawsuit finally reached a conclusion Nov. 10 when Civil District Court Judge Rose Ledet issued a ruling: Horton suffered a wrongful death at the hands of the city, the victim of police brutality. "Corey Horton exited the truck with his hands up," Ledet wrote. "He was completely surrounded. There was sufficient manpower available to arrest him. Although the officers reasonably suspected Mr. Horton was armed, there was no evidence of a weapon." The events leading up to Horton's death were not in dispute. On Aug. 24, 1991, three days after he turned 16, Horton was stopped in clear daylight while driving a stolen Dodge truck. Police were looking for the truck after receiving a tip it had been commandeered by Horton's older brother Anthony, who was wanted in a string of robberies. Instead, the officers found Corey behind the wheel along with Horton's girlfriend, Lekiksha Thompson, and another young woman with her 1-year-old child. Fanguy and two other officers surrounded the truck and ordered the driver to get out. By all accounts, Corey Horton exited with both hands in the air. Several witnesses said Horton never resisted. They said Horton was shot with both hands in the air. [more]