Exclusive: Michael Brown's Mother Sees 'Justice' Restoring Peace in Ferguson - East Idaho News
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Exclusive: Michael Brown’s Mother Sees ‘Justice’ Restoring Peace in Ferguson

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abc 081814 mikebrownmother?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1408373941356ABC News(FERGUSON, Missouri) — The mother of Michael Brown says the officer who shot and killed her son needs to be held responsible in order for peace to return in Ferguson, Missouri.

“Arresting this man and making him accountable for his actions; that’s justice,” Lesley McSpadden said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

The St. Louis suburb has been wracked by clashes and violence since Brown’s Aug. 9 death. Brown, 18, was unarmed when he was shot by a Ferguson police officer, identified by the department as Darren Wilson.

McSpadden said she spoke Sunday with Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson.

“He had a heartfelt message for me, and it was that that could have been his son, and he was sorry, and he’s, like everybody else, supporting and hoping and praying that this doesn’t happen again,” McSpadden said, holding back tears.

A private autopsy performed Sunday at the request of Brown’s family showed that the teen was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, said Shawn Parcells, the medical investigator who performed the autopsy with Dr. Michael Baden.

It’s unclear whether Brown’s arms were raised when he was shot, but he was not shot in the back, despite witnesses’ claims, Parcells told ABC News.

Family attorney Benjamin Crump said the autopsy results are troubling.

“It confirms our worst fears that the witnesses were telling the truth, that her son was shot multiple times,” Crump said. “The most troubling was the head shot, you know, it’s just not justified in any way, fashion or form to execute this child like this in broad daylight.”

Crump said the family wanted an independent autopsy in order to find out the truth about Brown’s death. The St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s office previously conducted an autopsy, concluding that Brown died of gunshot wounds but releasing no details.

Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a federal medical examiner to perform a separate autopsy because of the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The shooting death of Brown has sparked riots and protests in the St. Louis suburb, a situation that intensified after Ferguson police released video Friday they say shows Brown robbing a convenience store before the fatal shooting.

McSpadden said she was surprised by the video’s release, and that it doesn’t help to explain the shooting that followed.

“I feel like it has nothing to do with what he did to my child. Nothing,” McSpadden said.


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