Alvin Cole (L), Joseph Mensah (R)
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - A hung jury…again.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, the jury couldn't agree on whether a former Wauwatosa police officer used excessive force in the death of Alvin Cole.
Joseph Mensah shot and killed 17-year-old Alvin Cole outside Mayfair Mall in 2020.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office did not charge him in Cole's death.
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Cole's family filed a federal lawsuit accusing Mensah of using excessive force.
That trial ended in March with a hung jury.
In the retrial, Cole's family asked for $9 million in damages.
Teen shot
The backstory:
On Feb. 2, 2020, then-Wauwatosawatosa police officer Mensah shot and killed Cole. It was the third deadly shooting in five years involving Mensah.
That fall, the Milwaukee County District Attorney announced Mensah would not be charged in Cole's death. He said Cole ran from police carrying a stolen handgun while squad car audio and testimony from fellow officers said Cole fired a shot while running away and refused commands to drop the gun.
Mensah resigned from the Wauwatosa Police Department in fall 2020 and later got a job with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department.
Families sue Mensah
Dig deeper:
The families of Antonio Gonzales, Jay Anderson and Cole filed federal lawsuits in 2021 and 2022 against Mensah and the city's police department, alleging that Mensah used excessive force and the department promoted racism. The lawsuits were consolidated in September 2022.
Joseph Mensah federal lawsuit, judge dismisses 2 of 3 claims
A federal judge has dismissed two of three claims against a former Wisconsin police officer who killed three people of color in five years.
Before he shot Cole, Mensah shot Gonzales, 29, in 2015 after Gonzales approached him with a sword and refused to drop it, according to prosecutors. He shot Anderson in 2016 after he found Anderson, 25, sleeping in a car in a park after hours. Mensah said he opened fire when Anderson reached for a gun on the passenger seat.
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U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee then dismissed the Gonzales and Anderson families' claims. He allowed the Cole case to continue.
The Source: FOX6 produced this story from court records and has extensively reported on this shooting since 2020.