Families of two men killed in a crash with Warren police are speaking out after an officer has been charged

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The Families of Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis expressed frustration Monday over the charges against a Warren police officer in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of Hayden and Pettis.

Attorney James Harrington of Fieger Law is representing the families and said he believes the accused officer, James Burke, 28, is racially biased because he is a cop and is white.

“He’s getting preferential treatment because of his status, and what is his status? He’s a white officer,” Harrington said.

Harrington said he was outraged that Burke was only charged with manslaughter and not manslaughter.

“These charges are a gross understatement of what happened,” Harrington said.

Burke was on patrol near Schoenherr and Prospect Avenue on September 30 when his SUV crashed into a vehicle carrying Hayden Jr. and Pettis. The two men died on impact.

Burke it was charged last week with two counts of manslaughter and one count of willful neglect. He was granted a $100,000 bond, something that has outraged the victims’ families.

“You can say justice; we don’t think it was justice,” Shakearia Maye said.

“My son is gone; my son is not walking through my door today, tomorrow or the next day,” added Charisse Brown, Dejuan Pettis’ mother.

Moore said Pettis’ father died a few days after learning her son had died in a car crash involving a Warren police officer.

“If I personally did that, killed two officers, you would never see me again, but in prison,” Cedric Hayden Sr. said.

Harrington said he can’t help thinking Burke is being protected because he’s a cop and white.

“A white cop who kills two people while driving like a maniac and he gets a $100,000 personal bond, and he’s not charged with second-degree murder. It’s preferential treatment, and if that doesn’t prove it, I don’t know what will,” Harrington said.

Going forward, Harrington said he is hopeful the Michigan Attorney General’s office will get the families the justice they deserve.

“If they want to do the right thing, they don’t need me to tell them to do the right thing. The right thing is to amend the charges,” he said.