No officer was ever convicted in the 2010 shooting death of the sleeping child

DETROIT, Mich. — Sixteen years ago, on May 16, 2010, a Detroit Police Special Response Team raid went tragically wrong when officers burst into the wrong apartment, killing 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones as she slept on the couch.

An A&E reality television crew was filming the raid for the show The First 48. According to reports, officers threw a flashbang grenade through the front window of the duplex on Lillibridge Street. As chaos erupted, Officer Joseph Weekley fired a single shot from his MP5 submachine gun, striking the young girl in the head. She was asleep next to her grandmother at the time.

The actual suspect, Chauncey Owens, was located in the upstairs unit of the duplex and surrendered without incident.

Weekley faced two separate trials on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm. Both trials ended in mistrials. A judge later dismissed the charges, and prosecutors declined to pursue a third trial. Weekley was eventually reinstated to the Detroit Police Department in 2015.

Aiyana’s family reached an $8.25 million settlement with the city of Detroit.

The case drew national outrage and became a symbol of concerns over aggressive no-knock raids, especially when children are present. No officer was ever convicted in connection with the child’s death.