Apr. 21, 2022 3:40p
(WGTD)---In the coming weeks, attorneys for the City of Kenosha and Michael Bell are expected to sit down and discuss an offer from Michael Bell to “indemnify” the city from legal action if the city would release for testing the bullet that killed his son nearly two decades ago.
Bell made the offer at Monday’s council meeting. Bell believes an examination of the bullet coupled with a closer look at a dent in a garage near where the shooting took place might shed light on the positions of the three officers who struggled with his son the night of the shooting.
Bell picked up support for his request from Alder Holly Kangas. "I know it's not the popular thing to say but honestly he's just a father who's terribly broken and he needs some closure and the bullet would give him closure," Kangas said in urging Mayor John Antaramian to release the bullet for testing paid for by the Bell family.
While Bell believes the positions of the officers are crucial to achieving a definitive conclusion, a Racine judge who ruled against Bell’s request for a John Doe investigation three years ago felt that the positions of the officers doesn’t much matter. Judge Timothy Boyle said what does matter is that one of the officers yelled that the 21-year-old Bell had his gun, prompting another officer to give the command to shoot, believing that he and others were "in danger of imminent death or great bodily harm."
Bell, Jr. died of a bullet wound to the head.
Although the Bell family and the city reached a civil suit settlement with the city and the city's insurance company a number of years ago, Bell, Sr. has been pushing for an investigation conducted by a third party.
Several months ago, a Kenosha judge ruled that Bell has no legal right to the bullet that killed his son.
The ruling prompted Bell to start pressuring Mayor Antaramian to order the bullet’s release.
Antaramian told the Kenosha News he’s open to discussing the release, especially if it leads to true closure for both Bell and the city.
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