Trial for officer who killed 7-year-old continued Monday

Detroit officer accused of involuntary manslaughter

Aiyana Jones and Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley (WDIV, ClickOnDetroit.com)

DETROIT – Opening statements resume Monday morning in the trial of a Detroit police officer who unintentionally killed a 7-year-old girl during a hunt for a murder suspect in 2010.

There is no dispute that Joseph Weekley killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones May 16, 2010, while she slept on a couch during a search for a murder suspect. But he says the shooting happened when the girl's grandmother, Mertilla Jones, grabbed his gun in the chaotic moments following the use of a stun grenade. Jones denies any interference.

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"This is a tragic accident that resulted in the death of a little girl," said defense attorney Steven Fishman.

In his opening statement Thursday, Fishman argued that the girl's grandmother has a chip on her shoulder against police and that her testimony that Weekley assassinated Aiyana was a "complete and total lie."

Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter. It's his second trial. The first ended without a verdict in June 2013.

Wayne County Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Schmidt has testified that it was single gunshot wound to the head that killed Aiyana. He also said the entrance wound was shaped oddly, a sign that it had gone through something before making contact with Aiyana, possibly something soft such as a textile.

Aiyana's mother, Dominika Stanley, said she and her children were staying with Jones temporarily and that Aiyana often left their bedroom to go sleep with her grandmother. On the night of the shooting, Stanley said she woke up to hearing Jones scream, "They killed Aiyana."

--Aiyana's mother, Dominika Stanley

Stanley said police stopped her from immediately going to the hospital to see her daughter.

"I was asked to sit on the couch. I asked which couch and he pointed to the couch that my daughter was killed on," she said.

What happened:

The raid was part of police's hunt for the suspect in 17-year-old Je'rean Blake's shooting death. Blake was killed two days prior to the raid outside a Detroit convenience store. Aiyana's father, Charles Jones, was convicted of second-degree murder for allegedly giving the gun used in Blake's shooting to Chauncy Owens. Owens was also found guilty of murder for Blake's death.

Read: 2 men convicted in shooting death of Detroit teen

Moments before Aiyana was killed, police threw a stun grenade through a window, emitting smoke, bright light and vibrations to confuse people inside. The raid was recorded for a police reality TV show, "The First 48," and some video was used at the first trial.

Aiyana Jones

Weekley is white, and Aiyana was black. Jurors say race will have no influence on their ability to be fair.