News

Mother Wins Civil Case Years After Son was Killed by Police

The mother of Arnold Joseph (extreme right) at a candlelight vigil for her son after he was killed by police in 2019
The mother of Arnold Joseph (extreme right) at a candlelight vigil for her son after he was killed by police in 2019

The mother of Arnold Joseph, a 17-year-old teen who was shot by police five years ago, has reportedly won a civil case against law enforcement.

The teenager, who was travelling in a vehicle with two individuals on the night of his death in May 2019, was fatally shot by police who claimed they had difficulty stopping the vehicle.

In November 2019, the teen’s mother, Joanna Joseph, (as noted on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s website), filed a claim for damages, naming the Attorney General as a defendant.

The crux of her submissions concerns “allegations in the statement of claim of bad faith” against the officers involved in the killing, according to a statement on the Court’s website.

“If the civil case has been won right now it’s up to… the DPP (I guess) or the state to decide who is going to be held accountable for his death. It’s not the end for me; money cannot bring him back,” the mother told MBC Prime recently.

Joseph said she had to go “back and forth… listening to judges and lawyers actually defending those guys thinking it’s okay.”

“When you’re going to tell me you don’t think printing t-shirts was necessary” is disrespectful, she said, “because you cannot tell me how I should bury my son when (you) killed him.”

The news outlet said Joseph has since received a settlement.

“But the real part of it is who is going to be held accountable for his death. Somebody needs to be held accountable,” the mother said, adding that way too often “the DPP and Commissioner and whoever is in charge of our justice system sit and do nothing when we are out there suffering because of the loss of our loved ones.”

In January of this year, when she was asked how much of a setback the DPP’s office has on police investigations, former Police Commissioner Cruscita Descartes-Pelius simply stated that “the DPP’s office and police work together.”

“There is good collaboration, good discussion, and also when a matter is to be dealt with when we are ready with it, both parties can… move forward with the investigation,” she noted.

At the time, she told reporters she was “waiting to have some more discussion” on Arnold Joseph’s case.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend