UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A state police investigation has found no violation of procedure by two officers in the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy during a chase last year, WTAE's Bob Mayo reported Thursday.
Police said troopers Samuel Nassan and Juan Curry will not be disciplined for the Dec. 24 death of Michael Ellerbe (pictured, right), who took a bullet to the heart through the back in Uniontown, Fayette County.
Attorney Joel Sansone called the finding "a crime." At a press conference with Ellerbe's father, Michael Hickenbottom, he repeated his claim that the police are covering for each other.
Sansone, who has filed a federal lawsuit claiming wrongful death, said he will ask Gov. Ed Rendell to look at the case and have the troopers removed.
"This boy was murdered," Sansone said. "The police lied to cover it up."
Sansone claims to have witnesses to the alleged coverup, including other officers.
State police have not commented, but offered condolences.
"This was a tragic incident and the department extends its sympathy to members (of) the Ellerbe family," said state police spokesman Jack Lewis.
The troopers have also been cleared by a county jury at a coroner's inquest, as well as District Attorney Nancy Vernon.
During the inquest in January, Nassan, who is white, testified he shot at the boy, who is black, because he heard a gunshot and thought Curry had been hit.
Curry testified that he was not shot, but said his gun had accidentally fired as he climbed a fence while chasing Ellerbe, who was suspected of stealing a truck.
The case has drawn criticism from the local chapter of the NAACP and local black leaders, who have questioned why there were no blacks on the jury at the coroner's inquest.
The local U.S. Attorney's Office is conducting a civil rights investigation in the case.
Nassan has accepted a transfer to another state police barracks. Curry will stay in Uniontown.
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