Janet Cooksey & Antonio LeGrier-Quintonio LeGrier’s Parents

Meet Janet Cooksey & Antonio LeGrier

Janet Cooksey & Antonio LeGrier are the heartbroken parents of 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier. Their college student son was shot and killed by Chicago police officers on Christmas night.

The death of Janet Cooksey and Antonio LeGriers’ son has caused major outrage. Quintonio LeGrier –who is said to have suffered from a mental illness –was shot dead along with a 55-year-old woman, identified as Bettie Jones.

Both fatal victims, lived in the same building were officers were responding to LeGrier’s home after he started banging on his father Antonio LeGrier’s bedroom door with a baseball bat.

Anotnio LeGrier then proceeded to make the 911 call asking for help. But when police arrived, they shot Quintonio LeGrier — as well as Bettie Jones, whom the department admitted was killed “accidentally” by a bullet meant for Quintonio LeGrier.

Janet Cooksey & Antonio LeGriers’ son is described as a college student. At NIU, LeGrier was a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, as well as an “avid runner,” according to the Chicago Tribune. His mental problems are said to have started after he went off to school at Northern Illinois University.

Antonio LeGrier also told the Sun-Times he took his son to the hospital during Thanksgiving break because of “emotional problems.” He said his son was prescribed with medication.

Quintonio’s father, told the Chicago Sun-Times the officer who shot his son was about 30 feet away. He said the officer told him Quintonio LeGrier lunged at him with the bat.

But the heartbroken parents told the Sun-Times about the unnamed officer:

“In my opinion, he knew he had messed up. It was senseless,” “He knew he had shot, blindly, reckless into the doorway and now two people are dead because of it.”

LeGrier’s mother, Mrs. Janet Cooksey, was not present at the time of the shooting. She said that her son “didn’t have a gun. He had a bat.” Janet Cooksey also condemned Chicago police for how they handled the situation, telling media outlets, officers allegedly shot her son seven times. 49-year-old Janet Cooksey said

“We’re thinking the police are going to service us, take him to the hospital. They took his life … They did tell me he was shot seven times. That’s a bit much. That’s a bit much. I don’t take all of that. My son only weighed about 150 pounds. … Why do you have to be shot that many times? Why? If the police is trained in the field, then how, they’re just handling the situation by killing people?”

Their son, was said to be an honor student at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy. He ran cross-country in high school, and his friends recalled that he was also particularly good at math.

Does LeGrier’s mental health issues justify his death? Comment below!

Our sincere condolences to Quintonio LeGrier’s and Bettie Jone’s family and friends.