Family of man shot and killed by off-duty Philly homicide detective sues city and police officers

The family of a man who was shot and killed by an off-duty Philadelphia homicide detective last year has filed a lawsuit against the city and the police officers tasked with investigating the shooting, saying the detective acted unlawfully and that his colleagues “engaged in a conspiracy” to cover up any wrongdoing.

Robert Jones, 54, was fatally shot in October after he approached the car of Detective Chris Sweeney, who had just finished his shift and was driving home. It was around 11:30 p.m. when police said Jones pulled up behind Sweeney’s personal car, stopped at a red light on Willits Road near Holme Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.

Jones got out of his car and, for reasons that remain unclear, walked up to Sweeney’s driver’s side window, police said.

Sweeney, in the driver’s seat of his black Subaru, then pulled out his personal firearm and shot Jones multiple times through the car window, police said.

Officers who responded to the scene did not find a weapon on Jones, and nearby surveillance cameras did not fully capture the shooting, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

The case sparked protests and outcry from Jones’ family and members of the community who said that Jones was a nonviolent, hardworking man, and the detective shot him suddenly and without reason.

In July, the District Attorney’s Office cleared Sweeney of any wrongdoing. District Attorney Larry Krasner has declined to speak about his office’s decision in the case.

While the reason for prosecutors’ decision remains unclear, Pennsylvania’s “stand your ground” laws allow the use of deadly force in self-defense if people reasonably believe they are in danger while in a place they are legally allowed to be, like their home, car, or a public space.

But the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas by attorneys Shaka Johnson and Kevin O’Brien, contends the detective had no reason to believe Jones, who worked as a part-time roadside assistance operator, was a threat.

The lawsuit says Jones thought Sweeney’s car was disabled in the road when he walked up to the detective’s vehicle wearing a yellow vest.

Sweeney, a 14-year veteran of the force, then flashed his badge and yelled that he was a police officer, according to the lawsuit, but before Jones had the chance to respond or back up, the detective shot him.

The lawsuit accuses officers who responded to the scene of then engaging “in a conspiracy to obfuscate the truth and shield Detective Sweeney from criminal liability while assigning blame to Robert Jones.”

The unnamed officers searched the area for hours for a weapon but never recovered one, the lawsuit says, and then pushed a false narrative out to the media that the shooting was the result of a road rage incident, and that Jones was the aggressor.

The family has suffered emotionally and financially since Jones was killed, according to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the city’s law department declined to comment. Sweeney did not immediately respond.

O’Brien said the Jones family has received little information about the shooting beyond a letter from prosecutors saying they believed it was justified under the law.

Sweeney may have mistakenly thought Jones was armed when he opened fire, the attorney said, but Jones wasn’t, and the detective should be held accountable.

“People make mistakes but that doesn’t mean taking someone’s life is justified,” O’Brien said. “And we certainly think the evidence will show that.”

Jones, the oldest of four boys, was raised in the Wilson Park housing projects in South Philadelphia. He’d spent about a decade working as a groundskeeper for the Philadelphia Eagles, and for 20 years with Southwark Metal Manufacturing, his family said.

Michael Jones said his brother was an avid gym-goer who didn’t smoke or use drugs, and rarely even drank. He never married and had no children, and helped care for his mother after she suffered a stroke three years ago.

“This just don’t feel right to my soul,” Michael Jones said in an interview last year. “I won’t be satisfied until [Sweeney’s] locked up.”