New Orleans Settles Claims Police Ignored Threats

The city of New Orleans has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a federal lawsuit that accused police of ignoring a woman’s complaint that her ex-husband threatened her two weeks before he killed her and a friend, a spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.

The deal reached earlier this week resolves a suit filed on behalf of Cierra Williams, whose 40-year-old mother, Marilyn Green, was gunned down in April 2009.

“No amount of money can substitute the love and affection of her mother,” said Marion Floyd, one of Williams’ lawyers.

Green’s ex-husband, Jackie Green, was convicted of killing her and a friend, Lionel Nelson, at her New Orleans home.

Fifteen days earlier, Jackie Green allegedly threatened to kill his ex-wife during a telephone call and tried to run her off the road as she drove home. Officers didn’t take any action when Marilyn Green, her daughter and another relative drove to a police station and reported the incident, the suit says.

The officers didn’t write a report or even create a customary item number for their complaint, according to Williams’ lawyers.

“Marilyn Green and her friend’s murder were both terrible and tragic,” the suit says. “However, even more dreadful and appalling is that their murders, especially for Marilyn, came after a clear, direct and unmistakably loud warning.”