ST. LOUIS • The mother of a man fatally shot by an undercover St. Louis police detective in 2010 has sued in federal court here, alleging the officer continued to fire as her son lay on the ground dying, then planted a gun on him to claim the use of deadly force was justified.
Normane Bennett, 23, was shot June 25, 2010, in an alley behind the 3900 block of Sherman Place after he fled from police who tried to arrest him and others for alleged drug activity.
Police at the time said that Bennett's family attacked officers, allowing him to flee, and that Bennett pulled a revolver from his pants and pointed it at the detective chasing him. A police report says the Smith & Wesson revolver was later recovered about four feet from Bennett's body. The department never released the detective's name.
The civil suit filed Thursday by Mary Barnett, Bennett's mother, identifies the officer as Detective Marc Wasem. It claims Wasem fired seven shots at Bennett, five of which struck him, and some of which were delivered as Bennett lay on the ground dying.
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Barnett's attorney, Craig Kessler, said in an interview that he has nine witnesses, five of whom are related to Bennett, who saw the shooting from a variety of angles and who will testify that they never saw Bennett with a gun. Kessler said there are another five witnesses who will dispute the rest of Wasem's account, as relayed in police reports.
He said based on what at least three of these witnesses told police, "You would want to do some type of investigation. You have direct evidence that there's a real bad situation that should be investigated."
Wasem's actions were unanimously cleared by the police board. The department on Thursday declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
AÂ Post-Dispatch review earlier this year found the department cleared all but four of 117 officer-involved shootings over the last five years. The reviews are done with little outside scrutiny, the newspaper found.
In late November, the department for the first time took information on 10 fatal shootings by police to the circuit attorney's office for review. It's unclear whether Bennett's shooting was included.
The federal lawsuit claims the police board "turns a blind eye to use of excessive force by its police officers."Â It seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
