City also may face claim of violating civil rights, attorney announces

By Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News
October 17, 2003

Paul Childs' family will file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Denver police officer who fatally shot the developmentally disabled 15-year-old and may file a similar suit against the police department.

The suits likely will be filed within the next few months, but the exact date is unclear because the family's legal team must pore through documents related to the case, said attorney Timothy Rastello.

"We want definite change in the policies and procedures" at the police department, said Rastello, who stood next to the boy's mother, Helen Childs, outside her Thrill Place home, where officer James Turney shot her son July 5 when he wouldn't drop a knife.

A single tear dripped down her face, but she didn't say a word to the media that hovered on her lawn for a news conference that followed the district attorney's decision not to file criminal charges against Turney.

"We are extremely distraught by this decision," said Rastello, who would be co-counsel to Johnnie Cochran, the attorney who gained fame when he represented O.J. Simpson during his murder trial.

To prevent similar situations in the future, Rastello said, the family wants the police department's policies changed so that officers use the "least lethal" means to subdue people.

Rastello said Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter's decision reeks of political jockeying and follows a pattern of not prosecuting officers involved in shootings.

Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, denied the allegations and said Ritter "based his decision strictly on the law" and the evidence.

Thrill Place is a quiet street, lined by bungalows, tall trees and neighbors who know one another.

Helen Childs' modest red-brick home is in the middle of the 5500 block.

Red roses are dry beside the brass house numbers near the front door, where someone hung them after Paul Childs' funeral.

A sign that declares "No Justice, No Peace" - with a picture of Paul Childs pasted onto it - is propped on a chair under the home's shady front porch.

Inside, school pictures of Paul - always smiling - line shelves and a framed montage sits near the middle of the living room.

"This has been tough on her," said Helen Childs' brother, Michael Thompson. "My sister is grieving right now because of the loss of her son - she wants him with her."

Everyone in the neighborhood knew Paul Childs because he'd talk to almost anyone during his daily walks, said Cathy Blanton, who lives a block away.

La Shon Hall sparked an instant friendship with the boy on the summer day in 2002 that she moved into a house down the street.

Paul came over and asked if he could help her carry in boxes or anything else he could fit in his arms, she remembers.

When told that Turney wouldn't be charged, Hall - mother to two children who became inseparable from Paul - began to tremble.

"I don't understand how (the shooting) is justifiable," she said. "I think (Turney) committed murder and he should be punished for it."

Her daughter, Idaisha, 10, has been afraid to sleep in her bedroom alone since the shooting and now sleeps at her grandmother's house nearby.

Her son, Christopher, 13, also has problems. He's afraid to sit out on their front porch and wave to police officers as they pass.

"What this says to the community is that it's OK for the police to come into their house and kill them," she said. "It makes me afraid."

olveraj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5113

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