NORFOLK, Va. – The mother of a homicide victim has filed a lawsuit against the Norfolk Police Department alleging it failed to investigate previous murders committed by the same man who killed her daughter.
Michael Ebong, 44, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of Sheena West and Kelsey Paton, and raping a third woman in September 2021.
News 3 spoke exclusively with Ebong in September of 2022 in which he denied sexually assaulting the women but apologized for what happened.
Kathy Paton, the mother of Kelsey, claimed in a lawsuit filed this month that Ebong managed to escape incarceration for so long because his mother, Maravia Reid, “held a position of influence within the Norfolk Police Department.”
The lawsuit alleges Ebong managed to kill Kelsey Paton because the Department obstructed justice, withheld evidence and failed to investigate the death of West at the instruction of Reid.
It also claims the Department allowed Ebong to help carry Paton’s body out of his apartment within the view of multiple witnesses.
Kelsey Paton’s family claims they received videos of their daughter’s killer carrying her body out of his apartment “as if he were a member of the Norfolk Police Department,” the lawsuit cites.
News 3 has also done several interviews with the Paton family.
After his conviction in September, Kathy Paton told News 3 she was happy that Ebong was in jail, but she was concerned about how long it took for him to face charges and how previous cases against him were handled.
Ebong was set to be sentenced in December 2022 but has since been rescheduled for September 1.
