DETROIT – A Detroit family is renewing calls for accountability after a police officer allegedly stumbled and opened fire into a crowd at a block party — shooting a then-19-year-old woman in the head and leaving her permanently disabled.
The lawsuit, filed March 20, 2026, in Wayne County Circuit Court, names Detroit Police Officer Verona Shaw as the sole defendant and alleges gross negligence. It was filed on behalf of Rain Williams by her mother, Mosunmola Cobb, who serves as Williams’ legal guardian.
‘I thought I lost my daughter’
Cobb says she still remembers the phone call she received the night of the shooting.
“When I got that call, I thought I lost my daughter,” Cobb said. “She went out the house normal that day. She left all regular and like I know she was supposed to come back home and I got a call that I need to go to the hospital because my daughter was shot in the head.”
The shooting happened in the early morning hours of June 1, 2024, when DPD responded to reports of gunshots at a party on the west side of Detroit.
According to the lawsuit, Shaw entered the party’s backyard through a wooden gate — without her flashlight — when she spotted a man with a weapon and ordered him to drop it.
Shaw then tripped on concrete steps and fell, the lawsuit alleges. While struggling to regain her footing, she fired four shots into the crowd and fired a fifth shot after getting onto her knees.
Four people shot, one killed
According to the lawsuit, four people were struck by Shaw’s gunfire. Among them was Imani Peterson who died weeks after the shooting. Peterson’s family filed a separate lawsuit last summer.
Williams suffered a gunshot wound to the head and shoulder. She also suffered a stroke that left her immobile and nonverbal. She underwent two surgeries — a craniectomy to remove a portion of her skull, followed by a cranioplasty to repair it.
Through occupational, physical and speech therapy, Williams has regained some strength and has begun to speak again, according to the lawsuit. But attorneys say she will face lifelong challenges as a result of her injuries.
‘Nobody was shooting but her’
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Williams’ family along with attorney Ven Johnson, argued that Shaw’s actions were both reckless and unconstitutional.
“She shot into a crowd of people. She shot into a crowd of people. Let that sink in. Nobody was shooting but her when she shot,” Crump said.
Crump also noted that a fellow officer on the scene, identified in the lawsuit as Officer Hewin, chose not to fire his weapon because of the number of people in the backyard.
“The officer who did not shoot was in the right, and this officer who recklessly shot into a crowd of citizens, who shot that baby in her head, was wrong,” Crump said.
According to the lawsuit, Shaw’s body camera confirmed she was the sole shooter, and Michigan State Police confirmed that bullets recovered from Williams’ skull and shoulder matched Shaw’s duty firearm.
Shaw’s defense: Immunity, third-party fault
In her answer, Shaw’s attorneys raise several affirmative defenses, including governmental immunity — arguing she acted in good faith, within the scope of her employment, and was performing a discretionary function at the time of the shooting.
In a notice filed alongside the answer, Shaw’s attorneys specifically name Travaughn Quarles — the party’s host — alleging he recklessly discharged a weapon, failed to warn guests of danger and failed to adequately secure the party.
The lawsuit filed by Williams’ family states that, to their knowledge, Quarles was never charged with a crime in connection with the incident or named as a defendant.
Williams’ father: ‘I just want justice for my child’
Williams’ father, Charles Williams, said the family has received no communication from the department since the shooting.
“The pain as a father, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t do anything to help, to do the job I was here to do,” he said.
“We never even got contacted by the police to tell us anything — sorry, a mistake, or is your child OK? To this day we never heard anything,” Charles Williams said.
Officer returned to duty
Shaw was placed on administrative leave following the shooting and was assigned to “no gun” duty. According to attorneys, she has since been permitted to return to work. DPD has not responded to requests for comment on her current employment status.
“Virtually nothing has happened to Shaw as a result of this whatsoever, other than the administrative nonsense that they always do,” Johnson said.
Johnson says the reason for filing the lawsuit years later is because his office struggled to get information and video from the city.
Now that the lawsuit has been filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, attorneys say they can use subpoenas to compel the city to turn over documents and evidence they have been unable to obtain through FOIA requests alone.