Mother sues City of Niles over daughter's 2022 murder

 

NILES, Mich. -- A lawsuit's been filed against the City of Niles, the Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Services (SMCAS), and a number of Niles police officers.

This all goes back to a shooting nearly two years ago, where two teenage girls were killed, and three boys were injured. The mother of one of the deceased, Rochelle Smith, is alleging no lifesaving measures were taken to possibly save her daughter, Demi Galvin.

Just before midnight on Sept. 20, 2022, five teenagers were shot on N. Sixth Street in Niles. Two girls died, 18-year-old Yasmeen Scott and 15-year-old Demi Galvin.

Niles police quickly tied this shooting to two others in the same area, on Aug. 16 and Sept. 8, 2022. It's believed each shooting was retaliation for the prior crimes, but nearly two years later, no arrest has been made in the final mass shooting that killed those girls.

ABC57 reached out to the Niles Police Department for an update on the investigation and have yet to hear back.

In the lawyer's telling, Demi's brother, also shot that day, was asking EMS personnel to help his sister, but they passed over her, neglecting to render potentially lifesaving measures to Demi.

Attorney John Beason III is taking on the case, and filed a lawsuit against the city, the ambulance company, and several officers and agents for the wrongful death of Demi Galvin.

"She just wants attention, she wants justice, really I think, more than monetary compensation, she wants justice for her daughter," Beason said. "She wants the killers to be arrested, so this lawsuit is trying to get attention, trying to get compensation, trying to get justice for Demi."

Rochelle Smith met up with ABC57's Annie Kate on the street where Demi was shot, in front of the house where she died.

She explained the amount she is asking for in the lawsuit, $333,333,333, is a nod to her daughter, who believed in "angel numbers," and got a "333" tattoo just days before her death.