Scheduling and other preliminary matters were discussed Monday in a hearing held before King County District Court Judge Susan Mahoney.
An inquest into the fatal shooting of Charleena Lyles by two Seattle police officers earlier this year has been set for April 16.
Scheduling of the inquest and other preliminary matters were discussed Monday in a hearing held before King County District Court Judge Susan Mahoney.
Mahoney gave Lyles’ relatives time to work out differences over which attorneys will represent them at the inquest.
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Earlier, Lyles’ father had said he wouldn’t participate in the inquest in which other family members plan to be represented.
But Monday an attorney for the father, Charles Lyles, said he now wants to be included, setting off a dispute similar to what has occurred in a probate case over Charleena Lyle’s estate.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office recommended the inquest after reviewing a Seattle police investigation into the June 18 shooting.
Inquests are convened to determine the causes and circumstances of any death involving a member of a King County law-enforcement agency in the line of duty. Inquest jurors do not weigh the criminal or civil liability of officers or law-enforcement agencies, but instead determine the significant factual issues involved in a case.
Lyles, a 30-year-old African-American mother of four, was shot seven times by Officers Steven McNew and Jason Anderson after she called 911 to report that someone had broken into her apartment and stolen two video-game consoles.
Police say she threatened the officers with one or two knives before they opened fire.
The officers found no evidence of a burglary, according to police.
The shooting unleashed a storm of public protest, with many seeing it as another example of unnecessary deadly force being used by police against people of color.
Lyles’ family members have said the shooting could have been avoided and that they believe race was a factor. The officers who shot her are white.