On August 18, 2003, Officer Tamieka Moorehead shot and injured her husband [Loniel] during a domestic assault. Officer Moorhead claimed that she had shot her husband in self defense. According to reports, Officer Moorehead had previously been assaulted by her husband.
In 2000, Officer Moorehead's husband had been arrested for assaulting her.....
....And, in June of 2003, Officer Moorehead's husband had assaulted her again....
The previous domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her husband, and her alleged attempt to protect herself in August 2003 during yet another domestic violence altercation fell on deaf ears. Officer Moorehead was charged with attempted murder.
ALSO SEE:
Officer Tamieka Moorehead: Assaulted by her husband. December 31, 2000:
Officer Tamieka Moorehead: Allegedly assaulted by her husband. June 24, 2003:
Officer Accused Of Shooting Husband Learns Fate
Cop Must Resign, Not Carry A Gun
Click On Detroit
POSTED: 10:24 p.m. EST February 29, 2004
UPDATED: 8:45 a.m. EST March 1, 2004
A Detroit police officer is paying a price for shooting and wounding her husband after an argument.
Officer Tamieka Moorehead of the 11th Precinct pleaded guilty to felonious assault for shooting her husband, Donnell, in the neck on Aug. 17 at their home on Winthrop Street in Detroit.
Moorehead apparently believed her husband was cheating on her with another woman.
On Friday, Moorehead learned she must resign from the police department, no longer carry a weapon, must undergo anger management counseling, and spend the next four years on probation.
Her husband is still recovering, Local 4 reported.
Cop To Stand Trial For Allegedly Shooting Husband
Attorney Accuses Man Of Domestic Violence
Click On Detroit
October 14, 2003
http://www.officer.com/news/IBS/wdiv/news-1831023.html
A Detroit police officer will stand trial for allegedly attempting to kill her husband, Local 4 reported.
Officer Tamieka Moorehead of the 11th Precinct appeared at a preliminary examination hearing Tuesday on charges of assault with intent to commit murder.
Investigators say Moorehead shot her husband, Donnell, in the neck on Aug. 17 at their home on Winthrop Street in Detroit.
Moorehead apparently believed her husband was cheating on her with another woman.
Donnell testified Tuesday in a whisper because of his neck wound, Local 4 reported.
Officer Moorehead's attorney reportedly attempted to establish a pattern of domestic abuse in contrast with Donnell's calm demeanor on the stand.
The defense accused Donnell of slamming his wife's head to the ground during an alleged incident on June 24.
Moorehead was bound over Tuesday to stand trial. She is currently suspended from the police force without pay.
If Moorehead is convicted of the charges, she could face life in prison.
BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS
Minutes of the Board of Police Commissioners Meeting
Thursday, August 21, 2003
http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/police_commissioners/Meeting%20Minutes/2003/MinutesAug212003.pdf
Page 8
...On August 21, 2003, Police Officer Tamieka Moorehead, badge 3078, assigned to the 11thPrecinct, was suspended without pay by Chief Jerry A.Oliver, Sr.
On August 18, 2003, at approximately 2:00 a.m., the Professional Accountability Bureau was notified of an alleged act of misconduct on the part of Police Officer Tamieka Moorehead. More specifically, it was alleged
Minutes of the BPC MeetingThursday, August 21, 2003 Page 9
that while off duty Officer Moorehead did discharge her department issued weapon, thereby striking her husband in the neck and shoulder.
According to the information, On August 18, 2003, at approximately 1:35 a.m., at a residence located within the city of Detroit, Mr. Moorehead was asleep when he was awakened by Officer Moorehead throwing water on him. After which, Officer Moorehead discharged her department issued firearm at him in the neck and in the shoulder. After observing that Mr. Moorehead had been wounded, Officer Moorehead went to her neighbor’s home to seek assistance. Mr. Moorehead was subsequently conveyed to Sinai Grace Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
On August 19, 2003, felony warrant #36-64278 was issued charging Officer Moorehead with “Assault With Intent to Commit Murder and Felony Firearm.
”Based on the above circumstances, it is recommended that Officer Moorehead be charged with, but not limited to, the following violation of the Detroit Police Department Rules and Regulations:
CHARGE:CONDUCT, UNPROFESSIONAL/CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER; CONTRARY TO THELAW ENFORCEMENT CODE OF ETHICS, THISBEING IN VIOLATION OF DETROIT POLICE MANUAL SERIES 100. CHAPTER 102, DIRECTIVE 3, PARAGRAPH 5, SUB-PARAGRAPH 7 (102.3-5.7).
Unless contravened by this Commission, the above suspension without pay will stand.
Comm. Blackwell asked basically what happens is that they do an investigation. He asked if this is not just that one person telling their side of the story, clearly they do an investigation - correct, to reach this conclusion?
Comm. Norris stated again in felony cases, the Prosecutor has done that. The Prosecutor has charged the person. They have done whatever they would do to charge the person, and based on that felony charge; the Department takes action. It is her understanding, and AC Shoulders can correct me if I am wrong: In all of these criminal cases, the Department then conducts its own investigation which isn’t just looking at criminal activity, its looking at policies and anything else. But, they do not necessarily wait for that in a felony case.
Page 10 Minutes of the BPC Meeting Thursday, August 21, 2003 Page 10
Comm. Blackwell stated that we just react to the fact that they have charged by the Prosecutor and based on that information, even though it is a charge, at that point, based on the rules, they could not work anyway?
Comm. Norris answered right.
Comm. Blackwell asked so they have been charged with a felony?
Comm. Norris answered right.
Comm. Blackwell answered okay...
......Respectfully Submitted, DANTE’ L. GOSS Executive Director Board of Police Commissioners
DETROIT COP ARRAIGNED IN HUSBAND'S SHOOTING
REPORT: PAIR ARGUED AFTER WOMAN CALLED
August 20, 2003
BY BEN SCHMITT
DETROIT FREE PRESS
A phone call from another woman began an argument that ended when a Detroit police officer shot and wounded her husband, according to a police report.
After shooting her 25-year-old husband in the neck and shoulder, Officer Tamieka Moorehead called her mother early Monday morning from her west-side Detroit home, telling her, "Mama, I shot him," the report says.
Moorehead, a five-year employee of the department, was arraigned via video Tuesday in Detroit's 36th District Court on a felony charge of assault with intent to murder, which is punishable by up to life in prison. Magistrate Charles Anderson III released her on a $100,000 personal bond at the request of her attorney, John Goldpaugh. Anderson ordered that she have no contact with her husband.
A preliminary exam is set for Sept. 2.
Goldpaugh said after the hearing that Moorehead, 26, was defending herself when she fired her handgun at her husband, Loniel Moorehead.
"My understanding is that he was attacking her, and she defended herself," Goldpaugh said, adding that the couple has had other domestic run-ins.
A police report says the fight began after a woman called the couple's home on the 16500 block of Winthrop asking for Loniel Moorehead.
After the 1:30 a.m. shooting, Loniel Moorehead stumbled next door to a neighbor's house and said, "She shot me," according to a police report filed with the court. Tamieka Moorehead followed, telling her neighbors, "We had an argument. I didn't mean to do it," the report says.
Officers arrived and found Loniel Moorehead sitting on his neighbor's front porch. He was rushed to the hospital.
He is at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, Tuesday. Police Cmdr. Craig Schwartz, who heads the major crimes division, said Moorehead is expected to recover.
Goldpaugh said Tamieka Moorehead called the police after the shooting and has been cooperative throughout the process. She was held in police custody until Tuesday's arraignment.
A check of records at 36th District Court show that police arrested Loniel Moorehead on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge for punching his wife several times on Dec. 31, 2000. The case was dismissed March 8, 2001, when Tamieka Moorehead failed to show up to testify at a subsequent hearing against her husband, the records indicate.
A suspension without pay recommendation will most likely be presented Thursday before the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. Goldpaugh, a lawyer with the Detroit Police Officers Association, said the union does not usually contest suspensions on felony charges.
In July 2002, Police Chief Jerry Oliver, citing a problem with officers and domestic incidents, made it department policy to suspend all cops charged with any kind of domestic violence. The department previously suspended only those accused of felonies. Oliver was out of town and unavailable for comment Tuesday.
COP CHARGED IN ATTEMPTED MURDER
DEFENSE CLAIMS DETROIT OFFICER SHOT HER HUSBAND MONDAY IN SELF-DEFENSE
By David G. Grant
The Detroit News
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0308/20/c07d-249265.htm
DETROIT --- A police officer was charged Tuesday with the attempted murder of her husband, whom she allegedly shot during a domestic argument in their northwest Detroit home.
Officer Tamieka Moorehead, 26, who was accused of shooting her husband in the shoulder and neck, entered a not guilty plea to the charge at her arraignment in 36th District Court in Detroit.
This is a "pure case of self-defense," said Detroit Police Officers Association attorney John Goldpaugh, who is representing her.
The officer's husband, Loniel Moorehead, 25, was shot about 1:30 a.m. Monday in the bedroom of the couple's home on the 16000 block of Winthrop. He was in critical condition in Sinai-Grace Hospital.
Police charged that the shooting occurred after another woman called the house and wanted to talk to Loniel Moorehead.
But Goldpaugh said the shooting was about domestic abuse. He noted his client has charged her husband with domestic abuse in the past.
Court records show that Loniel Moorehead was charged Dec. 31, 2000, with domestic violence for hitting his wife. However, the charge was dismissed March 8, 2001, when Tamieka Moorehead failed to show up in court.
"There has been a history of abuse here," Goldpaugh said. "This is a self-defense case."
Tamieka Moorehead, who was assigned to the 11th (Davison) Precinct, has been suspended without pay. She was released on $100,000 bond pending a preliminary examination Sept. 2.
You can reach David G. Grant at (313) 222-2696
Michigan Officer Involved Domestic Violence
