NEW ORLEANS -- While most of New Orleans is celebrating New Year's Eve, one local couple says they will be praying for justice.
Patricia and Adolph Grimes lost their son a year ago Thursday and they are still asking questions.
"I don't want to see anybody go through what I went through and what I'm going through," said Patricia Grimes. "This right here ... this was senseless. Why?"
Police shot and killed her son, 22-year-old Adolph Grimes III, in front of his grandmother's home in the 1700 block of Governor Nichols Street last New Year's morning.
Police say grimes shot first as officers approached what they believed to be a suspicious vehicle. They claim his rental car matched the description of a vehicle seen driving away from a possible shooting down the street outside the bar Club Fabulous.
Grimes' parents say their son was never at the club.
"No, he would never go to no Club Fabulous," said Patricia Grimes. "He wasn't that kind of person. He wouldn't go to Club Fabulous, no."
"My child was celebrating the New Year's on the Westbank with us," said Adolph Grimes Jr. "He came here, laid his 17-month-old child down, talked with my wife and mother-in-law. He went and took him a bath, he told her he was going outside to wait for his cousin."
Grimes says police, dressed in plain clothes and driving unmarked vehicles, rolled up on his son and shot him more than a dozen times.
"His dome light was on," said Grimes. "He was combing his hair. They thought he had a weapon. That's what happened."
Police Superintendent Warren Riley cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, saying that tests indicated the the 22-year-old fired his gun and that it appeared that he shot through his car window and police returned fire.
The Grimes family disputes that claim.
"One of them (police officers) yelled, it looks like he had a gun," said Adolph Grimes Jr. "They opened fire on him. He tried to run out of the car. He met six others at the corner."
Wednesday, the Grimes family filed a federal "wrongful death" lawsuit, seeking $1 million dollars in damages from the city, Riley and 11 police officers. The suit claims the officers intentionally shot grimes, used excessive force, violated their son's civil rights, conspired to cover up their alleged misdeeds and inflicted emotional distress.
Chief Riley expressed sympathy for the Grimes family.
"The Grimes kid seemed to be a good kid," said Riley. "But, there are certainly circumstances in there that indicate he maybe mistook the police officers for someone else who he had a conflict with, earlier."
The Grimes say for them, New Year's Eve is nothing to celebrate.
"It's just another day and it's sad that I have to remember my child in this way," said Patricia Grimes. "There's no holiday. I don't want nobody to go through what we going through now. We're going to go through this the rest of our lives."
"We'll be praying that these guys are brought to justice," said Adolph Grimes, Jr. "That's going to be our celebration, praying for justice."
The Grimes are holding a memorial march for their son next Saturday, January 9. It will start at 11 a.m. in the 1700 block of Governor Nichols Street.
To see the lawsuit, click here.
