Lawsuit claims Henderson police shot 12-year-old hostage | Courts

The family of a murdered 12-year-old boy has filed a new wrongful death lawsuit, accusing Henderson police of fatally shooting the child during a hostage situation.

Joseph Hawatmeh was killed four years ago during a confrontation outside an apartment complex.

A 38-year-old gunman, Jason Bourne, killed the boy’s mother, Dianne Hawatmeh, 38, and paralyzed Yasmeen Hawatmeh, his sister. Bourne then took Joseph hostage in his family’s black Cadillac Escalade and called 911 while still holding the gun.

“I forgot to take my medicine,” Bourne’s transcripts say on the call.

According to the new lawsuit, filed Monday in Clark County District Court, “the stage was set” for a standoff between Bourne and the Henderson Police Department. The SWAT team was called, but by the time they arrived, officers had already shot Bourne and his young hostage, according to the lawsuit.

“Someone, in one day, loses a 12-year-old child, a wife and has a 16-year-old daughter and becomes paraplegic forever — the meaning of that is so obviously difficult,” said Roger Croteau, lead attorney for the plaintiffs. . Iehab, Yasmeen and Layth Hawatmeh.

Iehab Hawatmeh is Joseph’s father and Layth is the boy’s brother.

The family initially filed their case in federal court, but a judge threw it out. However, the ruling allowed the plaintiffs to pursue the case in state court.

The defendants argued in court records that the complaint filed by the Hawatmeh family did not allege any violation of the Constitution.

“Joseph was a hostage who was, at most, accidentally shot,” they wrote. He also said Bourne “must be stopped immediately.”

Madeleine Skains, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson, said the city had no additional comments on the case beyond those already made in filings in federal court.

Confrontation day

The deadly events that unfolded on November 3, 2020, occurred at The Douglas at Stonelake apartment complex, 1445 Stonelake Cove Ave., in Henderson.

Dianne Hawatmeh filed a complaint against Bourne, who lived in the apartment directly above the family. But after Dianne Hawatmeh and Yasmeen returned, Bourne burst into their apartment, shooting and killing Dianne Hawatmeh, as well as Veronica Muniz, a housekeeper, and rendering Yasmeen paraplegic.

Joseph called 911 and told the dispatcher that someone was in his apartment with a gun. Bourne then asked the boy to get his family’s car keys before taking him outside and putting him in the passenger seat.

When Bourne called 911 from the Escalade, he told the dispatcher he wanted a helicopter, that he had a gun and that he had a hostage with him.

“A helicopter, a big helicopter,” Bourne said, informing the 911 dispatcher that police had 10 minutes to get him the helicopter.

The lawsuit alleges that the dispatcher “knew or reasonably should have been aware that Bourne was suffering from some type of mental health episode.”

Bourne had taken Joseph and Yasmeen’s phones with him, and when Iehab and Layth Hawatmeh called Yasmeen’s phone, Bourne told Joseph to answer it.

“Eventually, Iehab and Layth heard the gunshots which resulted in the deaths of Joseph and Bourne,” the complaint states.

Sixteen officers eventually surrounded the Escalade, according to the lawsuit, which says one officer, James Pendleton, at the direction of Officer Jaime Smith, fired once, striking Bourne.

But what followed is described in the complaint as “a volley of consecutive gunshots” that mortally wounded not only Bourne but Joseph.

Allegations facing Henderson police

A total of 28 shots were fired at the car, according to the lawsuit. Under these circumstances, the complaint further asserts, Henderson police officers should have reassessed and de-escalated the scene in accordance with standard procedure in hostage situations.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Smith failed to secure the scene to allow a SWAT negotiator to offer alternatives.

“It was Defendants’ outrageous decision, given these facts, to use deadly force in an attempt to kill Bourne that ultimately” led to Joseph’s death, the lawsuit says, alleging broad failures of communication.

In a videotaped deposition in August 2023, Pendleton said Bourne was never seen shooting at anything, raising his gun or threatening the officers from inside the car.

But a motion filed by the defendants in federal court said Smith said Bourne “pointed a gun” at Joseph when Pendleton shot him. “And then everyone shot,” she said.

On January 23, 2023, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office ruled that none of the seven police officers who opened fire should face criminal charges.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at [email protected]. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.