Women suing Detroit 300, city over questioning at police station

Nine-month-old Delric Miller was asleep on the couch in his family's home when he was killed in a drive-by shooting.  Pressure was mounting in the community to find the person responsible.

Volunteers with the Detroit 300 mobilized.  One volunteer close to the investigation told us they were getting their marching orders directly from the Detroit Police Department.  We've agreed to conceal the person's identity.

"They brought us in, sat down in a room and gave us the file to look at, the active investigation file to look at -- pictures, addresses, names of the individuals that they (were) investigating."

We're told a top ranking officer gave volunteers a picture of a man they wanted Detroit 300 volunteers to question, a relative of a suspect.  He said they were also told to put pressure on Jessica and Stephanie Brown.

"They wanted us to try to put pressure on them in the neighborhood, and they said that Stephanie Brown was the individual that had the van that possibly was used in the drive-by of Delric Miller."

On March ninth, Stephanie Brown and her 28-year-old daughter, Jessica, agreed to talk with volunteers.  At their suggestion, the group met at the Detroit Police Department's Sixth Precinct.  According to a court document, Sergeant Harold Ashford allowed them to meet in the garage only after he put in a call to the department's top homicide cop.

"Inspector Blackmon instructed the sergeant to give us whatever they needed at that time to get the job done, and by job I mean to question and gather information from Jessica and possibly Stephanie Brown."

"What we've learned as a result of the discovery is that someone from above in the police department green lit this whole interrogation at the Detroit Police Department," said Tracey M. Martin.

She is representing Jessica and Stephanie Brown in a civil case against the Detroit 300 and the City of Detroit.  The women claim the Detroit 300 volunteers went too far when they questioned them at the police department.

"They experienced over two hours of berating and threats and harassment," said Martin.

"There was absolutely no kind of intimidation, absolutely none," said the volunteer.

Since this allegedly happened in the garage, there is no video recording of the incident.  We've also been told there should actually be a recording of the phone conversation between the sergeant and the inspector, but that equipment was not working at the time.

Martin said her clients had absolutely nothing to do with Delric Miller's murder.  No one has yet been charged in that case.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Police Department is not commenting due to the lawsuit.