Brother of MOVE Bombing Victims Calls for Justice

Lionell Dotson says City of Philadelphia and UPenn treatment of sisters' remains is a nightmare

PHILADELPHIA, April 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys for Lionell Dotson, Sr., whose sisters Katricia and Zanetta were killed in the 1985 MOVE bombing when the Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on a residential home on Osage Avenue, are calling on Mayor Jim Kenney to release the sisters' remains and finally do the right thing in a story of deception, denial, disrespect and outfight racism that reaches back nearly 37 years.

"The City of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania have had countless opportunities to treat Mr. Dotson, his sisters and the MOVE bombing victims with dignity and respect and they have failed time and again," said renowned Civil Rights attorney Bakari Sellers who represents Dotson. "All Mr. Dotson wants is to finally put his sisters to rest. But they won't even let him do that."

"Of course I don't trust the University of Pennsylvania or the City of Philadelphia to do the right thing. How could I? Everytime I think this nightmare is over, another lie comes to light and the pain starts all over again," said Dotson. "This isn't about making a statement and I'm not affiliated with MOVE. This is about my sisters."

"They don't have a voice so I have to speak for them and I have to be there myself and make sure they are finally put to rest"

Outrage over the MOVE bombing reignited in April 2021 when it was reported that the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum still held remains of Katricia Dotson and that they had been used in anthropology demonstrations and classes without the family's knowledge or consent.

Weeks later, the City revealed the Medical Examiner's Office also had remains of both Katricia and Zanetta Dotson though former Health Commissioner Thomas Farley had ordered them destroyed in 2017.

All of Katricia and Zanetta's remains were supposed to be turned over to their uncle Isaac Dotson for burial in 1985.

"This is one of the most disgusting cases of racial injustice and inhumanity I have ever seen and Lionell Dotson has been living with it since he was 8-years-old," said attorney Daniel Hartstein who also represents Dotson. "The least that the City of Philadelphia and Penn can do is take some responsibility for  their actions."

SOURCE Strom Law Firm, LLC