Chicago Police Sgt. John Poulos said Kajuan Raye pointed a gun at him before the officer opened fire, killing the 19-year-old in West Englewood in 2016.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said the shooting was justified, though three months passed before any gun was found. At a press conference last year, Raye’s mother called COPA’s findings “bulls---.”
“I don’t care what they say they found,” Karonisha Raye said in August. “My son did not point no gun at that police officer. He knew better. He know better. He know he would get killed pointing some gun at some damn police officer.”
In a court filing this week, Raye’s mother now says her son was armed with a Kahr Arms CW40 pistol but ballistics analyses show it was in his jacket when he was shot.
Raye’s family is suing Poulos and the city. In a motion filed Monday, Raye’s mother said experts retained by both her and the city agree the fatal bullet “entered the victim from his back, traveled through his body and encountered the Kahr firearm that was located in the breast pocket of the Pelle Pelle jacket.”
Highlighting the consistency between the experts, an attorney for Raye’s mother filed a motion asking the judge to find in their favor before the case goes to trial Feb. 24. The summary judgment filing was first reported by WBEZ.
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department declined to comment.
Raye was the second person shot to death by Poulos, who was promoted to sergeant after a recommendation from former First Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro in February 2016.
Poulos fatally shot a suspected burglar near a former Lincoln Park bar owned by he and his family in 2013. The man was unarmed, and Poulos was cleared in the shooting.
