Skip to main content

Law Enforcement: Killer Cop Walks in Ohio SWAT Raid Shooting, Relatives File Wrongful Death Suit

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #546)
Consequences of Prohibition
Politics & Advocacy

An all-white jury found Lima, Ohio, Police Sgt. Joe Chavalia not guilty on all counts in the January shooting death of 27-year-old Tarika Wilson during a January SWAT team raid on the home of a low-level crack cocaine dealer who was her live-in boyfriend. Wilson was shot and killed as she cowered at the door of a second-floor bedroom holding her infant child, Sincere Wilson, in her arms. The child was also hit; he had a finger amputated because of his wounds.

animated GIF appearing on Lima SWAT team's web site, taken down shortly after Wilson killing
In the midst of community outrage over the killing of Wilson, whose five other children were in the bedroom behind her, Sgt. Chavalia was indicted in her death -- but only on misdemeanor charges. He faced a maximum of eight months in prison if found guilty in her killing.

During his testimony at the trial, Sergeant Chavalia said that he believed his life was in danger when he entered the home and saw a "shadowy figure" down the hallway at the same time that he heard gunshots. He then opened fire, killing Wilson. Testimony at the trial determined that the gunshots Chavalia heard were in fact fired by two other SWAT team members, who were killing a pair of pit bulls on the ground floor.

"There was absolutely, positively no doubt in my mind right then and there that whatever this was is shooting and they're trying to kill me," he told the jury.

Chavalia's attorney, Bill Kluge, waged an aggressive case, even stooping to blaming the victim for getting herself killed. Wilson had chosen to live with a drug dealer, he said, and she had failed to identify herself to the yelling intruders who broke down her door.

"Why would she put those children in that position? I don't know the answer to that," Kluge said. "Love is a strange thing."

After hearing 3 1/2 days of testimony in the case, the jury deliberated for three hours before clearing Chavalia.

"We're supposed to take this with a smile? We're supposed to believe in justice?" asked an incredulous Ivory Austin II, Wilson's half-brother, in remarks reported by the Toledo Blade.

"We've got to do better. We've given people the license to kill," Jason Upthegrove, president of the Lima chapter of the NAACP, said afterward.

The Rev. Arnold Manley, pastor of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, told the Blade he came to the trial to see justice prevail but that did not happen. "As a pastor, I'm hurt deeply that we can walk away from this and say justice has been done," he said. "How do I go out to tell the people on the streets, 'Let the law prevail'? How do I say that? White man justice. Black man grief."

Darla Kaye Jennings, grandmother of Sincere Wilson responded to Lima's "white man justice" by filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against Chavalia and the city of Lima the day after the verdict was announced. The lawsuit asks for compensation for Sincere's injuries as well as an end to "police abuse by requiring that high risk search warrant executions be limited to situations where they are truly needed and where the least amount of force necessary to the situation is employed."

According to the lawsuit, the shooting that led to Wilson's death and her son's injuries was "excessive, unreasonable, and completely unnecessary." The lawsuit further said that Sergeant Chavalia acted "negligently" when he used deadly force.

Another killer cop has walked. But perhaps the city of Lima will learn a hard lesson when it is forced to pay for its misdeeds.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

The drug war is a war on the American People it does much more harm than the drugs would if made legal!! Wake up take action stop this war started for pure racist reasons look it up!!

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 1:15pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Can all of you folks defending the cops please tell me the benefit to society of having these aggressive home invasions by police?

Can you explain why the same tactics aren't employed against white middle-class drug dealers?

When enforcement of a law causes more damage than the behavior prohibited by that law, then something is seriously wrong.

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 3:44pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

-Can all of you folks defending the cops please tell me the benefit to society of having these aggressive home invasions by police?

Social Darwinism. Only idiots get their houses raided. Only retards get killed during the raid.

-Can you explain why the same tactics aren't employed against white middle-class drug dealers?

They are, only the results tend to be different. White people end up either surrendering peacefully or killing the Officers.

-When enforcement of a law causes more damage than the behavior prohibited by that law, then something is seriously wrong.

This World isn't perfect, never has been perfect, and never will be perfect. Law enforcement has always caused more harm then good. So in a sense...Something has always been wrong. Do you really think we've ever had a more effective justice system and that its somehow slipped over the past 50 years? American's pioneered lynch mobs.

Sun, 08/10/2008 - 4:09am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

It's good to see that having a black candidate for president hasn't slowed down your hate for anyone different than yourselves.Anyone that sits back and justifies the murder by lynching of another human because of the blind hatred of who they are is beyond redemption.You sir,are an ass.

Mon, 08/11/2008 - 8:07am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Regardless of costume & pretense a home invader is a home invader... and deserves 2 to the chest and 1 to the head... to make sure they are good and dead!

Never pity the legions of extremely violent prohibitionist assholes that attempt to alienate us from our inalenable rights.. instead shoot the criminals that seek to kill or incarcerate those that dare to disagree... it's part of your right to pre-emptive self-defense!

You christian prohibitionist fucks sicken me, always have, and should know that your life isn't worth my dogs life!

Truth is Treason in the Kingdom of Lies - Ron Paul

In the Kingdom of the Blind the one-eyed man is king - Erasmus

Be looking for you in hell asshole!

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 3:51pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Get these ninja cops out of my face!!!! This stupid sense of entitlement these dirty muthafuckah exhibit is got to be characteristic of the jack boot gestopo...dis-arm these punks and lets see what they're made of...

By the way, this did not make the 24 hour news perpetrators, but let a white girl go missing on vacation anywhere in the world and she'll become every other story on these racist programs, sending the message that other than mainstream white people are not valuable people...we should stop buying products advertised on these "news" stations!!!!! especially Fox/Fucs!!!!!

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 7:23pm Permalink
rita (not verified)

and still went in with guns drawn. Does anybody give a damn about the effect of this violence on children?

This child, by virtue of being a black make living in the "land of the free" already had a one in three chance of spending part of his life in prison. Now, he will have a constant reminder of what happened to his mother, every waking moment for the rest of his life. Would anybody care to guess what kind of man he will grow up to be?

What kind of society are these reckless destroyers of families creating for our children's children? Does anybody care?

Sat, 08/09/2008 - 2:14pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

This is the same old american so called justice at the expense of another human being who society seems to deemed worthless and non productive part of society...these were two innocent lives who were classifieds as criminals....and that's bullshit...how much money and time goes in the training of these so-called protectors of our communities...and he believed he was being shot at by a shadow figure...that is bullshit and the officer knows it as well as the idiot jury....they could of cared less if their was innocent person or a gun welding manic in that house...they went their to kill because they could and did get away with it....this world is one big fucking joke...and I'm personally am tired of it....I can protest til the day I die and nothing is going to change....If there is a higher being that created all this...needs to come show these so-called powers to be that their no different then that mother and child who were injured and murdered

Sat, 08/09/2008 - 8:46pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I can't believe the jury's decision! How much longer are American citizens going to tolerate these legally armed sociopaths? Takes a 'real man' to shoot an unarmed woman and an infant. I wonder just how tough these guys would be without their guns?

Sun, 08/10/2008 - 1:39pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

That's the kind of people that support this drug war and always will.They have no empathy or humanity and are absolutely convinced that they are right and everyone else is an enemy of whatever state they stand for.They get drunk every weekend and cannot tolerate anyone doing what they cannot.They believe every piece of crap out of ONDCP and think they stand for justice,when they have no concept of the meaning of the word.They want more prisons and will call for them until the knock comes at their door.Then they'll be taken away with tears flowing down their two faces.

Mon, 08/11/2008 - 8:14am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

I can assure you that the tactics that are used in crack search warrants are the same ones applied toward a "white middle- class drug dealer". The problem is it doesn't make the news when a white police officer injures a white middle class drug dealer. The unfortunate thing is that there is usually more of a chance of violence while executing a crack search warrant. For whatever reason there are usually quite a few people present as well as dogs (more often than not pit bulls) and guns.

Obviously the people in the crack house deserve to be treated with as much respect as those in a white neighborhood, and they usually are afforded this respect. I know that me stating that I am an undercover drug agent will get me a lot of flak on this website, but I can assure you that I have the community's best interest in mind. Scoff if you will, but I know my heart and thoughts and I feel confident that I know those of the men in and women in my unit.

The fact of the matter is that drugs ruin people's lives. I see it day in and day out where families are devastated by their loved ones. Drugs aren't a victimless crime. The children and spouses of those who are addicted pay a high price. Addicts steal from everyone, loved ones and strangers. They rob people and sometimes innocent people die by their actions.

I feel very sorry for the woman and her family that lost her life during this search warrant. I pray everyday that I never have to take someone's life and thank god for the last ten years I haven't had to. Unless you run into a dark building full of a lot of unknowns fully aware that the next thing you may see is a muzzle flash and then silence, it is hard to judge. That officer had to make a split second decision and made it. It cost a woman her life, but it is something that he will live with forever. I do not know the specifics of this case and have no idea what this officer's background is, but I can almost assure you that he did not go into that house wanting to kill a woman in front of her children.

Drug dealers for the most part are predators. They feed upon people in their darkest times by offering them something that will take all their pain away. It doesn't take their pain away, but it will take everything else away. Then the buyer (victim) becomes an addict and starts to hurt all those that care for him. When they get too desperate complete strangers are caught up in their situation. Let’s face it, when was the last time that someone robbed a store or ripped off an old lady's purse so he could pay his car insurance? It hasn't happened. They aren't feeding their kids with that money or paying the electric bill. They are walking a hundred yards down the street and buying a piece of crack cocaine that gets them high for twenty minutes, and then they do it all over again.

Police aren't just here to protect the innocent, sometimes we have to protect people from themselves. Addicts are these types of people. They keep stealing from people and eventually they will get hurt by someone. I love to see an addict clean up and make something of themselves. I never look down on anyone for being an addict, because given the right circumstances that could be me. I have no idea how I would react if I lost my family suddenly. As long as law enforcement treats people with compassion they can still effectively do their job. I'm fully aware that the majority of cops do look down on people, but that is a fault and hopefully one day they will fix it.

Thank you for listening to me now let the berating begin. Be safe all.

Wed, 08/13/2008 - 7:26pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

Congratulations to the undercover drug agent prepared to cop the berating from 'Freedom Lovers'

As an ex cop I know what you say is true.

To the beraters, consider this, without the men and women you so easily condemn for a mistake made in the time it takes you to blink an eye, without them and the courage they display every day, the 'freedom' to express yourself and protect your 'castle' would disappear in anarchy.

Look around the world and see what lawlessness looks like for the weak and the innocent, it's not a pretty picture.

Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.

Fri, 08/15/2008 - 12:06am Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

You are to see your target then shoot it. A shadow is not a target. Identify the target before you shoot. He do not identify his target before he sprayed the room with his machine gun. No one ever taught anyone to shoot at moving brush, shadows or anything you cant identify. To shoot at a target you have not identifyed is wrong.

What would happen if we shot at a shadow? We would live the rest of our lifes in jail. This cops actions are not acceptible. To spray a machinegun inside a house and not have a visual on the target is unacceptible.

Ohio Dave.

Wed, 11/12/2008 - 11:04pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

IF ONLY BLACK PEOPLE WHERE IRAQI PRISONERS

People in the black community need to rethink our relationship with the dominant community. The disparity between the two communities is getting wider and wider. Police murder unarmed blacks in the streets and suffer no repercussions while black pastors are demonized for preaching about racial disparity in our communities. Al Shapton become the issue. While a 92 years old black woman is shot in her home by white cops. Who then try to put together a lie to cover up their mistake! WHITE AMERICA IS SILENT! ( BUT THEY CAN SEE DISREPECT IN IRAQ)_Even when the most extreme forms of this discrimination is caught on tape it is dismissed as our fault because we didn’t prostrate ourselves in front of the cop fast enough or the police officer was having a bad day and had to release his frustrations on the black citizen or whatever. A Iraqi prisoner is given more respect then black American citizen! American troops are in prison up to 18 years from disrespect to murder of Iraqi prisoner! We are in danger every time we come out in public from the very people sworn to protect the public. The police and the courts are doing nothing they are paid to do! We are fighting two wars outside our country . But the worse war is right here AMERICAN AGAINST AMERICAN!

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 6:55pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

THE MISEDUCATION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Americans are un-educated and it shows. Most whites and other American are un-educated about American history. Because of our white based education. Lies and streotypes have been taught to Americans. First let me talk about slavery-( WHITES LOVE TO TALK ABOUT SLAVERY) it was the first form of welfare for white Americans only.(AND THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE TAUGHT) ""Pulling yourself up by your boot staps'' & ''Hard Work"" had nothing to do with the suscess of white Americans. Welfare to this day has always been 61% of all Americans... WHITE! Jim Crow Law"' was a set aside program ( Social Welfare) for whites in America. White racism has destoryed the founding father standard of respect of American value. People what is not told or mention in schools around the country. Is the fact that whites where the first to receive Affirmative Action in this country. Only difference was whites had it at 100% for all white Americans. Now whites have a history of hatred of non-whites . But for blacks. There is a different kind a hatred. This hatred has helped white coward cops to murder UNARMED black children as young as 5 years old. And black adults as old as 92 years old. White hatred of blacks has made it ok in the minds of whites company to discriminate against blacks went hiring. It helps whites to continue to repeat lies about the past history of America. I truly believe that whites feel above GOD and think they will get away with hatred of man and evil treatment of GOD'S PEOPLE! .THEY ARE WRONG! GOD SEE ALL!

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 7:01pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

HOW AMERICA CAN RETURN

The government is going to make a mistake again! By bailing out Wall Street and the car company and looking to bail out the crooked mortgage companies! The money should go to the tax payers.''AND THIS IS WHY'' Capitalism rules this country and consumers rule capitalism! The government is rule by the people. The tax payers buys the products produce by the companies. There will be 11 million Americans out of work by the time President Obama takes office! If Americans are out of work WHO CARES! IF THE COMPANIES ARE BAILED OUT???? The government is trying to rule the people and capitalism. By disrespecting the order and rule of capitalism. Now I have a plan!
1. $2,100 be issue to every American at birth.
2. $2,100 would be issue to a bank of the American choice!
3. $2,100 CAN NOT be touch until age 21
NOTE:
$2,100 would be $100 for every year until adulthood. By the government doing this. It would create a money surge (Stimulus Package) in the country's consumer market and American institutions everyday! Now the only way this money can be activate. Is by reaching the age of 21 and a high school diploma and is register to vote!
WAYS THE $2,100 CAN BE RETURN TO THE GOVERNMENT
1. DEATH - If a American died before age 21 all money return!
2. CAUSING DEATH- intenually or accidental. Half of the money goes to the government the other to the victim or victims!
3. CONVICTION OF A FELONY- A $100 deduction (other then murder or treason) for a time felony before the age of 21. Second felony all money return.
HOW THE $2,100 PROGRAM WORKS
Ones a American give birth the parents would take the birth certificates to the bank. The bank would submit a application to the government ! The government would release the $2,100 to the bank account in the childs name! The $2,100 would earn interest for 21 years . You can add to the account and withdraw the money you added. But the $2,100 cannot be touch until age 21. In the childs name. Also the bank would register the child to vote and issue a Registration Card. Now for the adult over 21 ! If you already have a bank account. The bank would submit application to the government. The government would release the money to your account. If you don't have a account the bank would create one.

Sun, 11/16/2008 - 1:09pm Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

SICK OF HEARING THAT BLACKS WILL CHANGE

I'm so sick of hearing that blacks will change after America voted for the first black President! As a black American 50- years old. Former Correction officer former Marine ! I'm insulted ! Some of these white pundits are asking question like. Are black going to pull up their pants? Are blacks going to respect their community? Will the be less crime? Why I'm insulted. I never wore my pants showing my underpants! I always respected my community! I never commited a crime! My question to whites would be ? Did voting for 43 white only male only Presidents help whites to change? Did it stop white greed the reason for the Wall Street bail out? Did it stop white racism that has help to destroy this country. Did it stop young white females between 13 to 38 from the highest % of abortion in the country? Did it stop white bank robbers ? Did it stop or reduce white hate groups in the country? Did it stop white serial killers? Did it stop white police officer from abusing their power and murdering unarmed Americans? Did it stop white companies from discrimination against non-whites? Did it stop white men from murdering their wife or girlfriends? Did it stop white incest or child molestors? Did it stop white devil worshippers? Did it stop white on white crime? Did it stop white young men from shooting up schools? It's a very good thing that Obama is the firstblack America! HE IS NOT A GOD!

Sun, 11/16/2008 - 1:10pm Permalink

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.