A 77-year-old Milwaukee man serving life in prison for gunning down his 13-year-old neighbor continues to fight a wrongful-death lawsuit by the victim's parents.
John H. Spooner was convicted in July of first-degree intentional homicide in the death in May 2012 of Darius Simmons. The jury rejected Spooner's insanity defense. He has said he plans to appeal.
Spooner had suspected the boy of stealing guns from his home a few days earlier, and he expressed frustration at the police response to his complaint. The morning of the shooting, he hinted to an alderman that he might be taking the law into his own hands.
Less than a month after the crime, Simmons' mother, Patricia Larry — who witnessed her son's slaying — sued Spooner for wrongful death, though he had few assets, and most were used to pay for his criminal defense. Darius Simmons Sr., the boy's father, later joined the lawsuit.
Larry's attorney, Jonathan Safran, said Wednesday that she knows there is little if anything to recover from Spooner, but that she wants a judgment of about $658,000 on the record just in case Spooner would somehow later come into some money, perhaps through a book or movie deal.
The civil case was on hold during the criminal case. After Spooner's conviction, Larry sought summary judgment, meaning a ruling in her favor because no facts or law are in question.
But Spooner, who has hired attorney Basil Loeb, opposed the motion.
In an affidavit filed in April, Spooner states, "I did not intentionally cause bodily harm to Darius Simmons, Jr. I was provoked by him and his family and I was victimized on a number of occasions.
