Officer may have used excessive force in bank shooting

A Lansing police officer who in 2011 shot and killed a 17-year-old girl who had broken into a bank may have used excessive force by shooting her in the head, a federal judge has said.

That finding was part of a written opinion by U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Derrinesha Clay. The lawsuit, filed in 2013, seeks in excess of $10 million. Bell said the case against Officer Brian Rendon can proceed.

The evidence, Bell said, could "allow a reasonable jury to conclude that ... Rendon's shot to Ms. Clay's head was unreasonable because she was on her knees, she had already been shot in the stomach, and she was no longer resisting."

A trial had been set for March 9. But the case is now stayed as attorneys for Rendon appeal Bell's decision. A notice of appeal was filed Feb. 19, records show.

The City of Lansing also had been named in the lawsuit, but in the same opinion Bell dismissed all counts against the city.

Bell, who was appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, noted that testimony from Rendon and two other officers at the scene "conflicts" regarding whether Clay resisted after the first shot to her stomach.

The incident happened the early morning of March 14, 2011 at a south Lansing Bank of America branch. Rendon was one of three officers who searched the bank. Clay, who had entered through a broken window, was found hiding in a storage closet, holding a pair of scissors. Two of the officers said she then pulled a knife from her coat. During a struggle, Rendon shot her twice while she was on her knees, according to the officers' statements.

Rendon was cleared by internal investigations, and Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III ruled the shooting justified.

The shooting sparked widespread community outrage. A group of local black pastors and NAACP officials questioned whether the teen ever attacked Rendon with a knife. Yard signs questioning the officers' actions went up in one neighborhood. At a packed meeting at Union Missionary Baptist Church, community members shouted at police officials.

Retired Cooley Law School professor Ron Bretz said that Bell may be pushing Rendon's attorneys to settle.

"What judges often will do is write fairly strongly worded opinions, hoping to prod a settlement," said Bretz, who reviewed Bell's opinion.

"This incident was an unfortunate tragedy for everyone involved," Police Chief Mike Yankowski said in a statement. "Nonetheless, we strenuously disagree with Judge Bell's ruling and stand by the findings of the external MSP investigation and Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Dunnings, both of which concluded that the officer's actions were justified given the circumstances he faced."

Troubled teen

It has never been clear why Clay broke into the bank, which is about a quarter of a mile from the apartment she shared with a 21-year-old man some believed was her cousin.

Teen shot in bank by city police had troubled history

A troubled teen who may have been bipolar, Clay was supposed to be living with her mother's godsister, but ran away. Tests showed evidence of marijuana use in her system, but no alcohol or other street drugs.

Bank surveillance cameras showed Clay alone, wandering around inside the bank.

At about 3:30 a.m. Rendon responded to an alarm at the bank. He and two other officers entered through a broken window.

Rendon eventually found Clay — who was about 5-foot-4, 120 pounds — hiding in a storage closet. When he pulled her out by her coat into the small room, she was holding a pair of scissors. He and another officer forced her to the floor.

Officer Jillian Johnson said Clay was frantic, shaking and repeated, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Johnson eventually was able to remove the scissors from Clay's hand. None of the officers had a Taser.

Shot twice

According to Johnson and Rendon, Clay then pulled a serrated steak knife from inside her winter coat. Clay was on her knees, slashing the knife back and forth in front of Rendon when he shot her in the abdomen. Rendon said she then "tried to stab" him, and he shot her in the head.

The accounts of Johnson and the third officer differ in some ways from Rendon's. Johnson didn't see Clay try to stab Rendon, and according to court documents said Clay's body "tensed up" and she "fell backwards" after the first shot. Officer David Burke also said Clay didn't lunge at Rendon after the first shot. Burke said she "slouched over."

A forensic analysis found a 1/ 2 -inch gash in Rendon's police coat that could have been from a knife.

Clay's mother's Detroit-based attorney, Herbert Sanders, said nationwide there have been too many unjustified police shootings.

"There's been little, if any, justice at all for these folks who are getting killed," Sanders said. "I'd like the community to at least know there's hope."