MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee father's determination for justice may breathe life into possible charges for his son's death.
Corey Stingley is never far from his father's heart and mind.
"He would be 25 now," said his father, Craig Stingley. "Corey was a great athlete in school. He was on the diving team, wrestling team, and baseball team, and he still carried a 3.8 GPA."
For nearly 10 years, Stingley has only wanted two things: truth and justice for his son, Corey.
"I couldn't let it go. I have been obsessed in knowing what happened to my son," said Stingley.
Stingley believes video evidence was overlooked that would have changed District Attorney John Chisholm's decision to not charge the three men who held his son down until police arrived.
"They have a scissor on Corey's head and that is what made it difficult to see," said Stingley.
In 2017, Stingley took the video to West Allis police, where a detective reviewed the footage frame by frame.
"As we went through that video, he agreed that it was new evidence that they had not seen," recalls Stingley.
After the review, the detective wrote a supplemental report and sent it to District Attorney Chisholm's office. That same year, Racine District Attorney Patricia Hanson was assigned to look at the case as a special prosecutor.
Stingley claims for three years, the case sat on her desk, until he filed a formal complaint against her in 2020.
"John Chisolm and Hanson were derelict of their duties. I think that their oath of office was ignored," said Stingley.
Chisholm declined to comment on the allegations, but in an email from Patricia Hanson, she responded in part, saying:
"What Mr. Stingley claims is new evidence, is all information that would have been available at the time of the first two reviews of this case, and is therefore not new information... I had to meet the demands and challenges that arose in Racine county first. A third look could not have been my highest priority with all that has happened in the last two years in Racine County and the world."
On Dec. 14, 2012 Corey Stingley walked into VJ's Food Mart in West Allis. Surveillance video shows the 16-year-old stuffing his backpack with three bottles of liquor, and then going to the front to pay for an energy drink.
"As a parent, you ask yourself why did you even put yourself in that position. He is a kid," admits Stingley.
Video shows the clerk confronting Corey about the concealed liquor. Corey can be seen handing over his backpack as the clerk removes the bottles. Corey reaches for his debit card and runs for the door. Three men stop him, pin him to the ground, and hold him there until he stops breathing.
His death was ruled a homicide. But no one was ever charged for taking his life.
"How did those marks get on his neck? What cut off his oxygen and blood supply, similar to what happened to George Floyd?" said Stingley.
Fast forward, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge is assigning a new special prosecutor to decide if evidence was overlooked and if justice was delayed.
Stingley said no matter the outcome, he will never give up on his son.
"I don't want someone else to go through what I went through, not even the families of the individuals that took my son. That is what we all rely upon within the system that we live in," said Stingley.
