Family seeks charges against police related to toddler’s fall from police car
It happened during a February 3 incident in which a Black man shot at police who he thought were intruders
Attorneys representing the family of a Black man who shot at police he believed to be home intruders want police criminally charged because of injuries the man’s son received while in care of officers.
Additionally, the attorneys representing that man, Corey Joseph Marioneaux Jr., have announced they plan to file civil lawsuits against the Pensacola Police Department; Escambia County EMS; and Marioneaux’s former employer, the Navy Federal Credit Union.
His attorneys said the credit union fired Marioneaux, who worked in the fraud division, the day after the February 3 incident at his home. At 5 a.m. that day, Marioneaux fired one shot at a SWAT team that crashed into his home before he realized the intruders were law enforcement. No one was injured. Marioneaux surrendered quickly. But he was arrested for attempted murder of a police officer.
In a press release, Bryant said he plans to utilize the “stand your ground” defense in the case. “Mr. Marioneaux had every right to defend his family against who (he) believed to be unannounced intruders into his home at the crack of dawn.”
Marioneaux was supposed to have this arraignment on February 25, but Escambia County Court records show it’s been delayed until March 11. Although police arrested Marioneaux, the district attorney has not filed charges in the case yet.
Bryant urged state prosecutors to “do the right thing” and not file charges against Marioneaux. Marioneaux’s family insists the 24-year-old father thought he was defending his home and children against intruders when police officers, armed with a search warrant, crashed through his front door. His baby boys, ages 1 and 3, were nearby.
Pensacola police opened an internal investigation after Marioneaux’s 1-year-old son, Cylen, was badly injured after the incident. Police previously told WEAR-TV that authorities placed Cylen and his 3-year-old brother, Caion, in a police car with an officer. Cylen, police said, fell out of the parked car when the officer opened the door.
Moiya Dixon, the children’s mother, said Cylen was so badly injured he was unrecognizable.
“It’s indescribable to know this happened in the hands of police,” Dixon said at the press conference. “His brother is traumatized. He’s terrified of police. He’s thinking, ‘Are they going to come get us now? Are they going to get mommy next? Are they going to get daddy again?”
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