Ross Feller Casey Files Major Lawsuit In Fatal Philadelphia Police Shooting Case

On behalf of the family of a man killed by Philadelphia police last year, Ross Feller Casey filed a major federal wrongful death lawsuit today alleging city officers used excessive force in the deadly shooting.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, names as defendants the city of Philadelphia and the two officers involved in the shooting, Bradford Conlon and Antoine Hayes.

The shooting occurred on April 10, 2020, after police responded to a call at a home in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia.

Giuseppe Particianone, 33, died due to injuries sustained after Conlon and Hayes “fired a fusillade of bullets into a home without regard for any of its occupants,” according to the lawsuit.

Hayes “emptied his clip into 1521 South Bailey Street without regard for anyone that was inside the home, including Giuseppe Particianone,” the lawsuit states.

Particianone, a mechanic, was shot twice and later died in the hospital. He was wounded while on his hands and knees in his own living room. Officers also shot a woman while she fled from them.

Despite nationwide media attention on the need to reform the use of deadly police force, including the reckless discharge of firearms into homes, the Philadelphia Police Department has yet to adopt policies, training, or directives against this practice. This systemic failure increases the risk of injuring innocent people, like Mr. Particianone, the lawsuit states.

Ross Feller Casey attorneys Robert Ross and Kevin Harden, Jr., are representing the Particianone family. Giuseppe, they pointed out, was a lifelong resident of the city and beloved in his small South Philadelphia community.

“Giuseppe’s family has been devastated by his death, and we ask that the city of Philadelphia do what’s right and implement policies to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” said Ross, a founding partner of Ross Feller Casey. “No amount of money will bring Giuseppe back, but the family feels that a lawsuit is the only way to obtain the justice that Giuseppe deserves.”

Read The Philadelphia Inquirer's coverage of the lawsuit below:

In the wake of the lawsuit, The Legal Intelligencer newspaper turned to Harden, a former prosecutor, for an in-depth analysis exploring just how much public awareness of police abuses will affect a jury's willingness to doubt police officers.

Read the story below: