DENVER -- Denver Manager of Safety Al LaCabe announced Thursday afternoon that James Turney, the officer who shot and killed a mentally disabled 15-year-old last July, will be given a 10-month suspension, effective Friday.

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Helen Childs, the mother of the 15-year-old who was killed, said she was informed of that decision by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper just before LaCabe's news conference.

After he completes his unpaid leave, the 30-year-old police officer will not be allowed to return to patrol duty, and will instead be offered a desk job. He has been with the Denver Police Department since 1998.

Helen Childs told reporters that she is pleased with that punishment.

Turney can appeal the decision to the city's Civil Service Commission and, later, to the courts.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman had recommended a 20-day suspension for Turney. Some leaders in the minority community had called for a year's suspension with no pay or that Turney be fired.

Black leaders threatened nonviolent civil disobedience if Turney's punishment isn't tough enough. Other political leaders fear that police officers will call in sick to protest a stiffer penalty. The head of the police union had said that even a 20-day suspension is too harsh.

Two internal police panels reviewed the shooting, with one recommending that Turney receive a 30-day suspension and the other calling for a letter of reprimand.

Police were called to the Childs' northeast Denver home on July 5, 2003 when his sister called to report that the teen had allegedly threatened their mother with a knife.

Police say that when they arrived at Childs' home, Childs was standing in the doorway, refusing several orders to drop the 13-inch kitchen knife he was holding. The teen's family said he may not have understood police officers' orders and that he was not a threat to any of the officers. The family argues that officers could have easily used a Taser gun instead of lethal force.

Several officers had their Taser guns drawn during the confrontation but they never fired the weapons. Turney shot Childs four times.

Turney was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the district attorney, who said there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges.

Turney and his partner were also responsible for the January 2002 shooting of a hearing-impaired 18-year-old in his mother's northeast Denver home.

The teen was armed with a pocketknife, which he refused to drop. Police said Gregory Smith Jr. was advancing toward the officers but his sister said that he was standing on top of a stairwell and at a distance where he wasn't able to lunge at them.

Both Turney and his partner were cleared in that case as well.

A special mayoral task force in two weeks will release its recommendations on how the city should deal with cases of lethal force by police.

Celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran's firm has agreed to represent Childs' family, which has notified the city of plans to sue for more than $5 million.