Michael Laux, attorney for the family of the late Eugene Ellison, plans to discuss Ellison’s 2010 shooting by Little Rock police at a news conference at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Allison Presbyterian Church.
Tuesday will be the fourth anniversary of Ellison’s death at his apartment. His shooting is the subject of a federal lawsuit, which attorneys Laux and Flint Taylor will argue demonstrates a pattern of racial discrimination in Little Rock police practices and use of force.
The lawyers will talk about oral arguments Thursday on the case before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the city’s appeal of the ruling that the case should go to trial. The lawyers will also discuss a family request for a Justice Department investigation of the LRPD and also alleged employment retaliation (transfer to a midnight shift) against Sgt. Troy Ellison, a son of the victim and member of LRPD.
Ellison, 67, was in his own home when two officers hired to provide private security at the Big Country Chateau apartment complex entered — they said to check on his well-being. By their account, he was shot fatally after he fought with them. The city has defended the officers, Donna Lesher and Tabitha McCrillis.
Laux’s announcement refers to a “continuing crisis of police community relations in Little Rock and across the country.”