Family of dead Cajun man sues police officers claiming shooting unjustified

Kermith Sonnier Jr., the Louisiana native killed by police gunfire on May 5 near Brownsville, didn't have to die, according to a federal lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages from four police officers. Geoffrey Fieger, the high-profile attorney representing the Sonnier family, said on Thursday that the 37-year-old didn't have to be shot, either. The police didn't have to follow him, Fieger added, and they should have sought medical help more quickly. The suit also claims Sonnier Jr. was beaten. "This isn't the old West," Fieger said. "At least the facts that exist so far show that the shooting was reprehensibly inappropriate." Sonnier Jr. bled to death after a bullet smashed through his ribs and pierced his lungs. It entered his body near his left shoulder blade. He was pronounced dead at Brownsville General Hospital. Testimony from a September coroner's inquest in Fayette County suggested that Sonnier Jr. tried to run over officers with his truck in a wooded area near the village of Century before they opened fire. Emergency responders testifying during the proceeding said they went to the scene before they had received the dispatch call because they had heard one of the officers screaming for help over the police radio. A police use-of-force expert told the coroner's jury that he believed the shooting was justified. The inquest ended with the recommendation that criminal charges not be filed against the officers involved. Sonnier Jr.'s father, Kermith Sonnier Sr., of Denbo Heights, Washington County, claims there's a cover-up. He questions why his son was shot in the back and how he apparently had sustained numerous cuts and bruises on the day he was killed.[more] and [more]