Bettie Jones death: Chicago Police officer Robert Rialmo shot and killed Bettie Jones “accidentally” while trying to help her neighbor deal with a domestic disturbance on December 26th, 2015.
4 years after Bettie Jones death, a 55-year-old mother of five and grandmother of nine, the Chicago Police Board voted on 17 October 2019 to dismiss Chicago Police (CPD) Officer Robert Rialmo.
A month after he was fired, former Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo this week filed a lawsuit to get his job back.
According to Rialmo’s attorneys, the Chicago Police Board’s decision to terminate him was “contrary to law and sound public opinion” and was “arbitrary, capricious and unrelated to the requirements of service.”
The lawsuit asked for a Cook County judge to reverse the board’s decision and reinstate Rialmo with back pay.
Betty Jones died alongside her 19-year-old neighbour, Quintonio LeGrier. She was shot a day after Christmas on the West Side of Chicago when she opened her door to direct officers when they arrived.
Jones was shot in the chest at nearly point-blank range outside her apartment by a police officer in a shooting that enraged neighbors, city leaders and her community.
Quintonio LeGrier’s father told CNN that it was he who called 911 on his son — so that he could get the help he needed — but he never imagined that police officers would respond with such ferocity that they would leave two people dead in their wake, especially his son.
Bettie Jones death: How Bettie Jones accidental death by Officer Robert Rialmo happened
On the day Bettie Jones lost her life, Chicago police officer Robert Rialmo and his partner had answered a 911 call from LeGrier’s father asking for help because his son was having a mental health crisis.
The father had barricaded himself in a bedroom while awaiting police and asked neighbor Bettie Jones to let police in.
When she opened the door, Chicago police officer Robert Rialmo said Quintonio LeGrier came at him with a baseball bat. The officer fired his gun killing both of them.
Bettie Jones was pronounced dead at 4:51 a.m. at the hospital. Quintonio LeGrier was pronounced dead at 5:14 a.m. at another hospital.
Chicago police said in a statement, according to CNN:
“Upon arrival, officers were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon which fatally wounded two individuals,”
“The 55 year old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed.
“The department extends its deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”
The Chicago Police Board would later vote to fire Chicago police officer Robert Rialmo who shot and killed Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier in 2015.
The board unanimously approved firing Robert Rialmo for the Dec. 26, 2015 shooting death of Bettie Jones, 55, and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, during a domestic disturbance call.
The board said Rialmo should have known better and said his actions were inconsistent with his training.
At Bettie Jones’ funeral, her daughter LaTonya — beside herself with grief — zeroed in on the ills of law enforcement when she addressed the crowd.
“My mother didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve this,.
“The day after Christmas, the police take my mama from us for no reason. And all she tried to do was help them. And this is how she’s been repaid?
Her life got taken away for helping the city! She didn’t have nothing to do with nothing. And now we’re hurt right now, we’re crying. Because of these police.”
“Stop all these police killing all these innocent people for nothing.”
Both Quintonio LeGrier’s family and Bettie Jones’ family filed lawsuits against the city.
A jury ruled that while Quintonio LeGrier shooting was unjustified, Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo reasonably feared for his life when he began firing at LeGrier. The jury also awarded the teenager’s family $1 million in damages, far less than the $25 million the family sought.
But Judge Rena Marie Van Tine quickly reversed the award, determining that because the jury’s ruling found that Rialmo had reacted out of a reasonable fear, the man’s family could not be awarded money.
When LeGrier’s father filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rialmo, the officer filed a countersuit against the LeGrier estate, alleging that Quintonio’s actions were the reason Jones died and that the shooting had caused Rialmo severe mental distress.
In a particularly bizarre turn, the city of Chicago also briefly filed a lawsuit against LeGrier’s estate, blaming him for the shooting.
The city’s lawsuit was quickly withdrawn after receiving heavy criticism.
The city settled a wrongful death suit with Jones’s family for $16 million.
See sympathy gifts HERE.