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@AhwatukeeFN
City OKs $3M for family of local man killed by cop BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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@AhwatukeeFN |
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hoenix City Council last week unanimously approved a $3 million payment to the family of an Ahwatukee man shot to death at point blank range in his condo doorway by police – who then ignored for nearly 10 minutes his girlfriend’s pleas to call for medical help. Just three seconds after Ryan Matthew Whitaker opened the door at 16000 S.
RYAN MATTHEW WHITAKER
A last hurrah for a dazzling holiday display
Desert Foothills Parkway around 10:53 p.m. May 21, Phoenix Police Of�icer Jeff Cooke �ired three quick rounds, killing him with two bullets in the back. Both Cooke and his partner, Of�icer John Ferragamo, have remained on restricted duty during an internal and criminal investigation. A city source said disciplinary proceedings are just beginning for the two of�icers. But there was little delay in the settlement of the
family’s notice of claim against the city over Whitaker’s death. And Council quickly approved it after impassioned statements by Council members Sal DiCiccio and Carlos Garcia – who both said the family probably deserved a lot more. Garcia led off with a quote from a statement by the victim’s sister, Katie Ryan, who said, “How do you put a price on a human life? No amount of money will ever bring back my brother and my niece and nephew not only have to live without their father but also with the trauma of his death.” Garcia then said, “We not only failed this
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BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA AFN Contributor
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or 21 years, Kim Taylor and his family have brought holiday joy to his Equestrian Trail neighborhood with his gift of lights and hundreds of cut-out displays at his family’s home on Kachina Drive. It’s a tradition that started simply at the Taylor family’s �irst Ahwatukee home on Graythorn Street, got a little larger when they moved to 31st Street and – 17 years ago – when they moved into a far larger corner lot at 3611 E. Kachina Drive.
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Certified Job Fairs: January and February
Kim Taylor stands amid the pieces of his Christmas light show that has bathed 3611 Kachina Drive in Ahwatukee in lights each year for more than two decades. Alas, he and his wife are downsizing and selling their home, so when the lights go off Jan. 3, they’ll be dimmed forever. (Pablo Robles/AFN
Staff Photographer)
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