Phoenix Police Chief Joseph Yahner has accepted the recommendation to demote a sergeant who killed a mentally ill woman in August 2014, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Michelle Cusseaux’s mother, Frances Garrett, again said Sgt. Percy Dupra should be fired. She called Yahner’s decision a “bitter pill to swallow.”
“Once again I’m stunned and it’s really like a slap in the face,” Garrett said.
Yahner’s decision is a “collapse of moral leadership," said Rev. Jarrett Maupin. Maupin was one of several people who sent letters this week encouraging Yahner to fire Dupra and Maupin is calling for non-violent protests.
Phoenix police said they went to Cusseaux’s apartment, near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road, with a court order to take her to a mental health facility. When officers entered the apartment, police said Cusseaux threatened them with a hammer and Dupra fatally shot her.
A disciplinary board recommended this week that Yahner demote Dupra. A use of force committee had previously determined Dupra broke departmental policy.
Dupra now has the right to appeal Yahner’s decision to a civil service board. Phoenix police Sergeant Trent Crump said the department cannot release more information until after that process is complete.
