Mom seeks data in son's killing by police

9/10/2010

The mother of a man killed by Toledo police last year has filed a petition in Lucas County Common Pleas Court asking for records surrounding her son's shooting death.

Mee Ok Su Simmons of Sylvania filed the petition to obtain discovery, saying that she was requesting records of the Oct. 29 shooting of Pyon Simmons. Filed by a Cleveland-based attorney, the petition asks the court to issue an order to the city and police department to produce all files, including reports, witness statements, and photographs, relating to the shooting.

Police shot and killed Simmons last year, after he stabbed his mother and attacked responding officers with pipes. Police said the incident started when, unprovoked, Simmons stabbed his mother inside their home. When she went outside, he stabbed her again, Ms. Simmons told police.

Simmons injured two officers seriously by hitting them with the metal pipes he carried before he was shot four times. The shooting was ruled justified.

According to the petition, the law firm of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson, & Giroux had submitted three written requests for documents but had been provided with only "four pages of incomplete records."

The petition further stated that Ms. Simmons was interested in the records because she is "investigating a potential wrongful death and survival action." The petition was assigned to Judge Gene Zmuda.