‘It’s a very sad thing’: Funeral for 7-year-old slain in police raid held at Detroit church

Funeral in Detroit for girl killed in police raid

DETROIT — Hundreds of people gathered at a Detroit church Saturday to pay respects to a 7-year-old girl shot and killed during a police raid on her home.

The funeral for Aiyana Stanley-Jones was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Second Ebenezer Church. The Rev. Al Sharpton was to give the eulogy.

Anthony Givens, 55, of Detroit, said he knew Aiyana’s family and last saw the child when he paid a brief visit on Mother’s Day.

“She was playing, joyful, laughing with her brothers,” Givens said.

He said he’s been disappointed in the past week by the publicity and sharp disagreement over how Aiyana died. Police have said an officer’s gun accidentally fired inside the house after he was jostled by, or collided with, her grandmother during the Sunday raid. A lawyer for Aiyana’s family has sued and claims the shot was fired from the porch after a flash-bang grenade was lobbed through a window.

The bullet struck the sleeping child in the neck.

“It’s a very sad thing,” Givens said. “I think they should concentrate on burying the young lady instead of all this ruckus.”

The top half of Aiyana’s coffin was open before the service at the 3,000-seat contemporary Baptist church. A flower arrangement shaped like a princess’ crown and bearing Aiyana’s name sat on the closed, lower half of the coffin.