This"heart rendering" story had tears rolling down my cheeks... and my sides hurt from laughing so much. I almost fell out of my chair laughing harder because each quote was more funny than the previous one.... where do you start???

The writer Conte ??? The public officials visiting the family of the "dearly departed" ??? I saw a photo of the weapon the "victim" was carrying around his neck... obviously using it for self protection.

With all due respect to the law abidding residents in that neighborhood, the logical response to the family / friends comments would be to remove all police presence to avoid other familes from being victimized by the police.

Published: Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal The Jersey Journal


Family members of the man killed by a Jersey City police officer on Saturday said yesterday the felon would never have pointed a gun at a cop and they want to see any evidence that proves otherwise.

?Let?s just get the truth,? said Tyra Henry, the cousin of Deron Kittrell, 28, of Wade Street, who was killed at 2 a.m. by Officer Louis Mecka at Monticello Avenue near Brinkerhoff Street. ?If we could have the truth, we could bow out.?

Kittrell?s uncle, Rob Henry, said, ?My nephew was no angel, but my nephew was not crazy enough to pull a gun on an officer.?

Mecka responded on a call of shots being fired on Martin Luther King Drive near Clinton Avenue at 1:54 a.m. and saw Kittrell walking with a gun in his hand, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

The officer got out of his vehicle with his K-9 partner Froto and chased Kittrell when he refused to stop and started running, DeFazio said.

During the chase, Kittrell pointed the gun at Mecka and Froto and Mecka opened fire, DeFazio said, adding that the preliminary investigation has found the shooting justified.

Police recovered the Masterpiece Arms 9mm pistol with a 30-round clip at the scene, DeFazio said, adding the gun had no bullets but had been fired recently.

The gun manufacturer said the weapon can fire 30 rounds as fast as the shooter can pull the trigger and costs $450 to $490.

Mecca has been taken off-duty and is being provided counseling, officials said.

Kittrell was in state prison from June 6, 2003 to March 16, 2005 for a firearm offense and two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute near a school, according to corrections records.

Tyra Henry said yesterday she never thought her cousin would die by the hands of a police officer.

?It hurts,? she said, standing beside grieving friends and family members at a memorial to Kittrell near his mother?s Johnston Avenue home.

?I never thought it would be by the cops. He was shot in a robbery before and drove himself to the hospital. The cops, they are supposed to be here to serve and protect.?

Assemblyman Charles Mainor and state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham visited Kittrell?s grieving mother Sunday.

?I did go over to the mother?s house, not to take sides but to console a mother who lost her child,? Mainor said yesterday. ?We prayed, myself and Sen. Cunningham, and just consoled the mother.?

Mainor, a Jersey City police detective, visited Mecka yesterday.

Jersey City Councilwoman Viola Richardson and Hudson County Freeholder Jeffrey Dublin also visited Kittrell?s mother.

Last September, Mecka also fired his weapon in the line of duty.

At 3:14 a.m. on Sept. 12, he and Froto came upon three people shooting at each other at Martin Luther King Drive and Communipaw Avenue, reports said. When one man pointed a gun at Mecka, the officer fired two rounds at him, but missed, reports said.

Assisted by Froto, Mecka arrested the three Jersey City felons charged in the incident. Mecka?s use of force in that incident was found to be justified, DeFazio said yesterday.


Cop?s three bullets removed from Kittrell's body

A 28-year-old Jersey City man died as a result of being shot three times by Jersey City Police Officer Louis Mecka on Saturday, and the medical examiner also found a bullet in his body from a prior shooting, officials said yesterday.

Deron Kittrell was shot twice in the upper left arm and once in the upper left chest by the officer early Saturday morning on Monticello Avenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday based on the preliminary autopsy report.

The prosecutor said Kittrell was carrying a gun and was apparently intoxicated when he ran from the officer and his K-9 partner Froto. DeFazio said Mecka shot Kittrell when Kittrell pointed the gun at the police officer and Froto.?

?During the autopsy performed at the state Regional Medical Examiner?s Office in Newark on Saturday, the bullet from a previous shooting was removed from Kittrell?s body, DeFazio said.

Kittrell?s cousin and his girlfriend told The Jersey Journal yesterday that Kittrell had been shot during a robbery against him and DeFazio confirmed that information.

Point a gun at my dog and I would definitely shoot you. Good job!! Froto is amazing and should be protected.

Froto; Cleaning up Jersey City one perp at a time. I actually wouldn't complain if they gave him a 500k payout at retirement for his sick days. I'm sure he's fixed, but maybe he could use the money to fly to Korea and have himself cloned, and then we could have a next generation of super crime fighting dogs.

Jersey City officer shoots and kills man, 28, who allegedly pointed gun at him

Published: Monday, August 01, 2011, 3:05 AM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

A Jersey City police officer shot and killed a 28-year-old man early Saturday after the man pointed a gun at the officer, authorities said yesterday.

Responding to a report of shots fired at Martin Luther King Drive near Clinton Avenue at 1:54 a.m., Officer Louis Mecka spotted Deron Kitrell, 28, of Wade Street, in a crowd with what appeared to be a gun, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday.

Mecka got out of the cruiser with his partner, K-9 police dog Froto, and ordered Kittrell to stay where he was, but Kittrell ran and Mecka and Froto ran after him, DeFazio said.

After a short pursuit, Kittrell turned around in the area of Monticello Avenue near Brinkerhoff Street and pointed a gun at Mecka and the police dog; Mecka shot him four times, DeFazio said.

?(Mecka) didn?t fire until he was confronted face-to-face with the gunman,? DeFazio said. ?(Kittrell) was pointing the weapon in the direction of the K-9 and the officer and it was at that time (Kittrell) was shot.?

DeFazio said Kittrell was holding a 9mm gun with an extended 32-shot magazine that resembled a ?small machine gun? that was strapped round his neck with a boot lace or similar cord. The gun, which was empty, had been discharged earlier, DeFazio said.

Preliminarily, it looks like justifiable deadly force on part of police officer, DeFazio said.

Doctors at Jersey City Medical Center pronounced Kittrell, dead at 2:25 a.m.

The Regional Medical Examiner?s Office in Newark determined that Kittrell was shot in the torso and hip, DeFazio said.

Investigators found numerous 9mm shell casings at the scene of the original call on MLK Drive indicating shots had been fired., the prosecutor said. ?At this time, we have no indication that anybody else was hurt,? DeFazio said. It appears the bullets were from Kittrell?s gun but investigators are awaiting ballistics results for confirmation, he said.

According to the Department of Corrections, Kittrell was convicted of two weapons offenses and a drug charge in 2003, serving time in state prison from June 2003 until March 2005.

Jersey City Police and the Hudson County Prosecutor?s Office Homicide Squad are conducting the investigation. Anyone with information about these incidents should call the HCPO Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.