Lawsuit alleges coverup in murder investigation
TRENTON >> City civil rights attorney Patrick Whalen could drown in the tears of Trenton mothers who bury their young sons too soon.
Those mothers’ anguish over their sons’ murders has led to legal action, most recently in the case of Jamer Greenfield, a 23-year-old father of three who was murdered in Trenton in July 2014.
Greenfield was gunned down July 14, three days prior to the death of Eric Garner, a black man who was killed after New York Police officers placed him in a chokehold.
After being rebuffed by authorities in her quest for answers in her son’s case, Talaya Greenfield, Jamer’s mother and the head of his estate, has sued city police and Mercer County prosecutors in federal court.
She says prosecutors and police are involved in a racebased conspiracy to “conceal” Jamer’s death, may know the identity of her son’s killer, but don’t care to solve the murder because police officers may have caused or contributed to his death, according to the lawsuit.
“I’m not blind to the fact that this happened three days prior to the death of Eric Garner,” Whalen, who represents the Greenfields, told The Trentonian. “The streets of Trenton were like a matchstick. If police played any role in [Jamer Greenfield’s] death, that may be why we’re not seeing a criminal prosecution.”
Whalen, who represents other families of murder victims in Trenton, said the lawsuit points to a pattern of racial discrimination from Trenton Police and the office of Acting Prosecutor Angelo Onofi, which declined to respond to the allegations.
The city, the police force, city police director Ernest Parrey Jr., and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are all named as defendants in Talaya Greenfield’s lawsuit, which cites a lack of “compassion, disrespect, misrepresentations and outright lies,” from authorities.
The city and police do not discuss pending litigation.
Whalen also represents the family of slain Nyquan Owens, 20, who was murdered in 2013, not long after he proposed to his girlfriend, in a separate lawsuit in state court.
He said that case resonates with Talaya Greenfield because both murders are officially unsolved.
Whalen says the department does not thoroughly investigate the homicides of black men.
“Fatalities of young African-Americans men in the city appear to be handled and treated differently and with far less concern or consideration than the fatalities of other non-African-American males,” Whalen wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed this month, about two years after thedeathofJamerGreenfield, who would have turned 26 on Friday.
“I know he’s looking down on me from heaven smiling,” Talaya said. “I’m so happy to have [Patrick] on my team.”
Whalen contends that authorities refuse to provide information to Talaya about her son’s murder because she is black.
Even after he had been shot multiple times, Jamer, who was facing drug charges at the time of his death, was treated like a criminal by officers who responded to the 200 block of Rosemont Avenue, the lawsuit says.
Police “inexplicably” handcuffed Jamer and did not immediatelygethimmedicalattention for his injuries. Later, they took steps to “conceal the events of that tragic day” with “acts or omissions,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit points to the fact that Jamer’s killer was never caught, or questioned by the police, despite being identified by witnesses, as evidence of a conspiracy. It claims that multiple shooters may have fired at Jamer.
Talaya was stymied by police and Mercer County prosecutors when she represented herself in a lawsuit in state court to try to get her son’s autopsy report and property.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office refused to release any of it because of the ongoing investigation.
Talaya’s provocative lawsuit summarizes and expands on accusations she previously made during an interview with The Trentonian.
County attorneys demanded she drop the “frivolous” lawsuit and sent her a threatening letter.
All Talaya knows is that her son may have been targeted for his jewelry while he was gambling on the streets.
The lawsuit says his death may have been related to “activities being conducted at an after-hours club” on Rosemont Avenue.
Talaya said previously that she was told her son ran from his assailant and collapsed in front of two cops.
“It seems kind of incredible that the guy ran, in his dying to fall, into the arms of law enforcement,” Whalen said.
Whalen has requested a jury trial, to decide damages and attorney fees.
“The murder is nearly two years old and next to no information has been provided to his mother and family,” he wrote in the lawsuit. “From the perspective of the mother and the family, it certainly appears that defendants, local law enforcement entities are engaging in a conspiracy to hide and conceal critical facts and or are taking no serious steps to actually investigate the murder.”
Whalen said it is “disturbing how much we take for granted that these kids are gonna die. It’s almost becoming routine.”
City police experienced mass layoffs in 2011, but officials have made efforts to replenish Trenton’s force. The prosecutor’s office, in 2013, formed the Homicide Task Force to focus on solving the city’s murders.
Still, Whalen said, city mothers get “rope-a-dope for years.”
“We have all these police on payroll,” he said. “Why are we not getting homicide investigations completed?”