Former Cop Charged In Musician's Death Faces Judge
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WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) — Making his first court appearance, former Palm Beach Gardens cop Nouman Raja stood in jail clothes facing charges that he killed 31-year-old drummer Corey Jones last October.
"Mr. Raja's been charged with negligent manslaughter, culpable negligence. Bond is currently set at none. And attempted first degree murder with a fire arm, that bond is currently set at none," said the judge.
After coming to an agreement with prosecutors, Raja was granted a $250,000 bond, allowing him to get out of jail.
It's been a tough couple days for Corey Jones' family.
"We're grieving. We feel like we feel today and yesterday, how we felt on October 18th when we found out we lost Corey," said Sheila Banks, Corey's aunt.
Raja was arrested after a grand jury heard the case.
Investigators say he was working undercover, in plain clothes and in an unmarked van in October 2015 when he spotted Jones broken down on an I-95 exit ramp.
We've learned Jones was on the phone with roadside assistance when Raja confronted him. The whole conversation was recorded. Investigators say Raja never identified himself as an officer and fired six times at Jones, hitting him three times.
"For now, all we have is a mere accusation, which, in our system, is just an accusation. It's just what really gets the case started," said defense attorney Richard Lubin.
Jones' family want to know why it took so long to make the decision to arrest the fired officer.
"There appears to be overwhelming evidence that there was grounds for arrest against Mr. Raja months and months ago," said Barry Silver, the family's attorney. "And we want to make sure this police officer is held to a higher standard, not a lower standard."
Now Jones' family prays for justice and answers.
"We want this to stop. There has to be a stopping point to this injustice. We're going to stand, we're going to stand strong. We're going to stand as long as it takes to get justice for Corey and justice for other families."
Jones died last October after his car broke down on I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens and Raja, who was doing undercover work to solve a series of car burglaries, confronted Jones and shot him.
What Raja didn't know at the time was that Jones was on the phone with a tow truck operator and the call was being recorded.
Jones, a drummer who also worked as a housing inspector, was on his way home from a gig when his car experienced a problem. He had purchased his gun only days earlier because he was worried about being robbed of his music equipment, his family has said. He had a concealed weapons permit.
Jones, who was black, and the operator had talked uneventfully for about two minutes when Raja, who is of South Asian descent, pulled up the ramp from the wrong direction and parked in front of Jones' SUV, according to charging documents.
Raja, 38, who was investigating a string of auto burglaries, was driving an unmarked cargo van with no police lights and was in civilian clothes: a tan T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a baseball cap. Raja's sergeant told investigators he had instructed Raja to wear his tactical vest that has police markings while on this assignment for his own safety and to identify himself, but it was found in Raja's van along with his police radio, the documents say.
Charging documents say that, on the recording, as Jones and the operator talked, the door chimes from Jones' SUV sounded, indicating he stepped out as Raja approached. It recorded an exchange where Raja repeatedly asks variations of "You good?" to which Jones repeatedly replies that he is. Raja never says he is a police officer.
Suddenly, the officer shouts, using an expletive, for Jones to put his hands up.
Jones replies: "Hold on!" And Raja repeats his demand.
Raja then fired three shots in less than two seconds, according to the charging documents. Ten seconds of silence then pass before three more shots, each fired about a second apart, are heard.
Immediately after the shooting, Raja used his personal cellphone to call 911. As the operator answered 33 seconds after the last shot was fired, according to charging documents, Raja yelled at someone to drop the gun even though Jones' autopsy showed a bullet had pierced his heart and lungs and would have felled him almost immediately.
Raja told the 911 dispatcher that he had identified himself as a police officer and that he began firing as Jones came at him with a gun, prosecutors say. He said he continued firing because Jones was pointing his gun at him as he ran away.
When Raja's sergeant and other officers arrived, they found Jones' body between some trees almost 200 feet from the back of his SUV. A police dog found Jones' gun about 75 feet from his SUV, near where Raja told his sergeant he had seen Jones throw it. The safety was on and it had fired no shots.
Prosecutors say in their charging document that given the distance between the gun and Jones' body — and the heart wound that would have incapacitated him — they believe Raja fired the last three shots after he knew Jones had thrown down his gun and was running away.
Jones' family issued a statement saying they are relieved by the arrest.
"While we understand that nothing can bring back our son, brother and friend, this arrest sends a message that this conduct will not be tolerated from members of law enforcement," the statement said. They have a news conference scheduled Thursday.
Raja faces a life sentence if convicted.
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