COMPTON : Informant Sues City Over His Mother’s Death

A man who is a key witness in the case of two slain Compton police officers--and who has fled the state to avoid testifying--has filed suit against Compton and the county over the death of his mother.

Calvin Cooksey, who is considered the linchpin in the prosecution’s case against Regis Deon Thomas, 23, in the killing of the police officers, said his mother was shot in retaliation for his testimony during a 1993 preliminary hearing.

Cooksey is suing because authorities failed to relocate his mother as promised, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Cooksey’s mother, Viola Pirtle Woods, was killed by gunfire outside the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts in August, 1994. Her slaying occurred a few weeks after Cooksey received a threat on the lives of his family members for turning in Thomas. Detectives investigating Woods’ death have said she was accidentally caught in gang cross-fire.

Cooksey has testified that he heard Thomas boast of shooting down Compton Police Officers Kevin Burrell and James MacDonald on Feb. 23, 1993. Cooksey said he later helped Thomas get rid of the murder weapon. Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and an unrelated killing.

Thomas’ trial began in Superior Court this week. Although Cooksey has refused to return despite a judge’s order, prosecutors will be able to show his videotaped testimony from the preliminary hearing.