Family Calls Police Killing Of Elderly Man Murder
State Attorney Questioned Tactics, But Found Nothing Criminal
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Family members of an elderly man shot and killed in January by an undercover police officer expressed outrage on Friday that the investigation is not yet complete, and called for criminal charges against the officers involved.
Isaac Singletary, 80, was shot and killed outside of his South Metro home on Jan. 27 while police were conducting an undercover narcotics operation on his street. Police said Singletary came out of his house with a gun and would not drop it.
Witnesses said that Singletary thought the undercover officers were real drug dealers and tried to chase them off his property with a gun.
Singletary's familiy gathered in front of his home just off Philips Highway on Friday to say his death was an injustice and the fact that the investigation is not yet complete is an outrage. The family said they just received a copy of the autopsy from the medical examiner, which raises even more questions about the police shooting.
"I would like to see them be held accountable for what they did," said Gary Evans, Singletary's nephew. "I would like to see them charged for murder because that is what it was. Plain and simple, it was murder."
While a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office review of the shooting is scheduled for next week, State Attorney Harry Shorstein said in April that while he was very concerned with how undercover operations like this one were conducted, he would not file criminal charges against the officers.
The family told Channel 4's Jim Piggott that the state attorney's investigation also troubles them.
"The ironic thing is, they have been given the information from the sheriff's department," the family's attorney, Benjamin Crimp, said. "Isn't that a conflict of interest, having the sheriff department conduct the investigation when they are the prime subject?"
The family said they plan to attend the police Response To Resistance Board review's review of the case, scheduled for Aug. 1.
- April 13, 2007: Prosecutor: Fatal Police Shootings Justified, But Two Were Unnecessary
- January 29, 2007: 3rd Police Shooting Prompts Call To Halt To Undercover Drug Stings
- January 27, 2007: Elderly Man Dies In Gunfire Exchange With Undercover Officers
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