Fundraiser Nets More Than $11,000 For Family Of Woman Killed In Police Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An online fundraiser has collected more than $11,000 for a Chicago family to help pay for the funeral expenses of a 55-year-old woman accidentally shot and killed by police over the weekend.
Bettie Jones, a mother of five, was killed when a police officer opened fire Saturday afternoon at an apartment building in the 4700 block of West Erie Street, while responding to a domestic incident.
Police have said an officer shot and killed 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier after he became combative when officers responded to a 911 call from his father, who had reported his son was threatening him. Jones, who lives downstairs from LeGrier's father, was "accidentally struck and tragically killed" when the officer opened fire, police said.
After Jones was killed, supporters set up a GoFundMe page to help her family raise money for her funeral. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 325 people had donated to the page, pledging more than $11,000 combined. The page has been shared more than 1,000 times.
Creators of the page were hoping to raise $20,000 for Jones' family.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports that Jones' surviving children viewed their mother's body for the first time Tuesday.
Mayor Emanuel reached out last weekend to offer condolences to the daughters of police shooting victim Bettie Jones.
"He said that he was sorry for our loss or whatever and that he would come by if he could when he got back to town," said Latasha Jones, Bettie's daughter. "He was nice about everything."
Today, the mayor personally called again to set up that appointment just before the daughters left their mother's home to view her body for the very first time.
"Prior to viewing the body, one of the young ladies attempted to put on her mother's clothes and her sweater and all the emotions just came pouring down on her," said family spokesman Eric Russell.
The morgue visit was followed by a meeting with Jones' team of attorneys in the Loop.
"They just left the morgue before they came here, so they're trying to make arrangements," said family friend Don Patterson.
LeGrier's family has said he was carrying a baseball bat and suffering mental health problems, and threatened his father with a baseball bat, prompting the 911 call, but they have said they expected police to take LeGrier to a hospital, not to shoot him.
Jones family attorney Sam Adam Jr. said shell casings recovered at the scene were found on the sidewalk and near the street, suggesting "the gunfire came from a substantial distance away" and that officers' lives were not in immediate danger from LeGrier, even if he was still wielding the bat when police arrived.
LeGrier's family and friends were holding a vigil Tuesday night at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Academy. The teen graduated from Brooks as an honor student, and was enrolled as an engineering student at Northern Illinois University.
His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
Jones' family has said they also plan to sue the city.
CBS 2 has been told an IPRA investigator wanted to visit the shooting scene Tuesday afternoon, but the Jones daughters were downtown, their home was locked up and that appointment will be rescheduled.
