Attorney Demands Names Of Cops Who Shot, Killed Autistic Teen
CALUMET CITY, Ill. (CBS) -- An attorney is demanding the names of two Calumet City police officers involved in the shooting death of a 15-year-old autistic boy last month.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, the officers who shot and killed Stephon Watts in his home are on administrative leave, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation by the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
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So far, the suburb is refusing to name the two officers. But now, attorney Marion Victoria Cruz, who is representing the boy's family, tells the Northwest Indiana Times she has filed a motion to force Calumet City officials to give her the names as she prepares to file a lawsuit in the case.
The officers were called to the home when the boy became unruly on the morning of Feb. 1. Calumet City Police contend that Stephon slashed at the officers with a kitchen knife, and they shot and killed him in self-defense.
But Stephon's father, Steven Watts, claims that nothing of the sort happened, and that Stephon had a butter knife that he was using to try to pry open the cabinet in which his computer had been locked for disciplinary reasons.
Police had been called to the Watts home because of Stephon's acting out 10 times in two years. Steven Watts has said that he had been advised to do so by local hospitals in order to obtain a police report, before seeking hospital treatment.
Steven Watts said last month that he asked for one officer to come to the home to take the report, but said that Stephon had calmed down by the time police arrived and that he told them he did not need their assistance.
Watts' family has also been seeking a federal probe of the deadly shooting.
