Lawsuit Seeks $25M In Detroit Police Shooting

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/09/2025) The mother of a woman shot by police while she attended a summer party has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the Detroit Police Department, alleging excessive force, negligence and wanton misconduct.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court on behalf of Ceria JOYCE, is the second civil action arising out of a June 1, 2024, party that had at least two police officers firing at party-goers, and it's the first to publicly identify a fatality from the incident that left Joyce's daughter, Imani Peterson, 19, dead.

"Imani Peterson was unarmed and posed no threat to Officers 'A' and 'B,'" the lawsuit from attorneys Alvin L. Keel and Walter L. Starghill III reads. " … Imani Peterson was struck by a bullet to her abdomen with complications, leading to her death from gunshot wounds on June 15, 2024.

"Prior to (Peterson's) death … she suffered countless hours and multiple days of conscious pain and suffering and the pain of numerous surgeries," they added. "The medical examiner determined Imani Peterson's death to be a homicide."

According to the complaint filed June 3, Peterson was a guest at a social gathering on Trinity Street in Detroit when officers responded around 1:45 a.m. to a report of shots fired in the area of Florence Street and Burt Road.

Two officers, who are unidentified and noted only as "A" and "B" in the lawsuit, responded and one officer allegedly began to "physically stumble and while falling … recklessly with total disregard for the safety of the many party attendees discharged her weapon numerous times into the crowd of civilians," striking Peterson, who died on June 15 as a result of her injuries.

The second officer, believed to be male, also "began discharging his weapon … into the dimly lit rear yard full of party-goers, striking" Peterson, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit appears to be the first public notice that someone was killed during the incident, which then-Police Chief James White described as chaotic and involving eight guns and 93 shell casings being recovered.

White reported that four people were shot and wounded, and that one was hit by an officer.

In November, Chief Todd Bettison amended White's initial details, saying ballistic evidence showed that a female officer shot at the party-goers and injured three people.

In a January federal lawsuit, Dezhanique Bey and Travaughn Quarles allege they were also shot "multiple times" by officers responding to the party. They are seeking $5 million each for violations of their civil rights.