DETROIT – After six years, a federal judge on Tuesday threw out the $150 million lawsuit filed by the family of slain exotic dancer Tamara Greene against the city of Detroit and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Greene's son, 18-year-old Jonathan Bond, is a thoughtful, serious teenager -- far more than the average 18-year-old. His childhood was ended at age 10 when his mother was killed.
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His father told him the news of the case being dismissed Tuesday morning.
"I told him the verdict came down, the decision was made, and it wasn't in our favor. And (Jonathan) just looked at me," his father, Ernest Flagg, said.
Greene was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2003. It was rumored that she danced at a never-proven party at the Detroit mayor's Manoogian Mansion that was thrown by then-mayor Kilpatrick in 2002.
"Nothing is fair in life. Nothing is promised," Bond said.
His demeanor explains how he is handling Tuesday's verdict with a calm sadness. For Bond, there has been struggle at every twist and turn in this legal fight.
"Trying to have them come forward, and trying to know what really happened to my mother," he said.
The decision means he may never know who killed his mother or why, but he and his father said the fight is not over.
"An appeal is imminent. It will come," Flagg said. "There was a conspiracy and it started in the mayor's office."