Lawsuit to be Filed in Palm Springs Police Killing of Unarmed Filipino Marine/Afghanistan War Veteran

From [HERE] In November 2012, Filipino-American Marine AJ DeVillena was shot dead by Palm Springs police officers when he reportedly struck an officer with his vehicle and disobeyed orders to pull over.

Palm Springs Police Department said in a statement that DeVillena repeatedly disobeyed orders to stop his vehicle when bike patrol officers approached him around 2am, Saturday, November 10.

According to initial reports, patrolmen on the scene fired at AJ when he refused to obey their orders and struck one of the officers with his vehicle. The 22-year-old DeVillena died on the scene, while the other passenger – another Marine – was left unhurt.

Authorities said that they recovered a reportedly stolen ATM card, other identification cards and a mobile phone inside DeVillena’s vehicle.

According to Balitang America, the DeVillenas intend to push through with a wrongful death lawsuit. They have also called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Marines to further intensify their probes into the DeVillena shooting.

LA Civil Rights Association president Eddie Jones said that they intend to sue Palm Springs mayor Steve Pougnet, the city government, and Palm Springs PD because they believe that in light of DeVillena’s death, a change of policy has to take place.

Devillena's family told NBC Bay Area that they believe the Palm Springs police may not be telling the whole story about the events leading up to the shooting and are calling on the Marines to step in and take over the investigation into Devillena's death.

"We're not confident with just the Palm Springs Police doing the investigation. we're not confident with their district attorney doing the investigation," said Devillena's father Allan Devillena, Sr.

Devillena's family also said he had recently returned from Afghanistan and was weeks away from finishing his service with the Marines.

"This is a young man who signed up served this country. He went to Afghanistan, came back untouched, was safe in Afghanistan-- came back to get killed, Devillena Sr. said. [MORE] 

DeVillena’s death sparked outrage from family, friends, and civil rights organizations. The DeVillena family claimed that it was a “wrongful death” and said that they will pursue legal action.

Nearly two months after the incident, the DeVillenas have gathered over the weekend at the parking garage where AJ was shot.

“Knowing this is where my son took his last breath, it’s tough,” Allan DeVillena Sr. said to Balitang America.

“But this is where it happened, and we come down here, and let our voices be heard by the Palm Springs community and the community outside,” DeVillena added.

“A traffic stop should never turn into a murder by a cop,” said Jones to Balitang America.

DeVillena Sr. said that they are looking to help other families who have suffered police brutality.

“We’re looking forward, that’s what we aim to do,” DeVillena Sr. added.

According to Balitang America, Palm Springs PD did not return phone calls and have declined to comment on the DeVillena case as they continue with their own internal investigation on the matter.