Families of two men killed in crash with Warren police speak out after officer charged
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — The families of Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis expressed their frustration Monday with the charges filed against a Warren police officer in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of Hayden and Pettis.
Attorney James Harrington of Fieger Law is representing the families and said he believes the officer being charged, James Burke, 28, is racially biased because he is a cop and he is white.
"He is getting preferential treatment because of his status, and what is his status? He is a white cop," Harrington said.
Harrington said he is outraged that Burke was only charged with manslaughter and not second-degree murder.
"These charges are a gross undercharging for what had happened," Harrington said.
Burke was on patrol near Schoenherr and Prospect Avenue on Sept. 30, when his SUV slammed into a vehicle carrying Hayden Jr. and Pettis. The two men died on impact.
Burke was charged last week with two counts of manslaughter and one count of willful neglect. He was given a $100,000 bond — something that has the families of the victims outraged.
"You can say justice; we don't think it was justice," said Shakearia Maye.
"My son is gone; my son is not walking through my door today, tomorrow or the next day behind that," added Charisse Brown, the mother of Dejuan Pettis.
Moore said Pettis' father passed away a few days after learning her son was killed in a car crash involving a Warren police officer.
"If I personally would have done that, killed two officers, you would never see me again, but in the penitentiary," said Cedric Hayden Sr.
Harrington said he can't help but think that Burke is being protected because he is a cop and he is white.
"A white cop who kills two people driving like a maniac and he gets $100,000 personal bond, and he isn't charged with second-degree murder. It's preferential treatment, and if that doesn't prove it, I don't know what will," Harrington said.
Moving forward, Harrington said he is hopeful the Michigan Attorney General's Office will give the families the justice they deserve.
"If they're going to do the right thing, they don't need me to tell them to do the right thing. The right thing is to amend the charges," he said.