The mother of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died days after a violent confrontation with police in 2019, has settled her federal civil rights lawsuit against Aurora, Colorado, her lawyers said Monday.
“A settlement in principle has been reached with the city of Aurora resolving all claims raised” in Sheneen McClain’s suit, her lawyers said in a statement.
There were no additional details available about the settlement. Lawyers Qusair Mohamedbhai, Siddhartha H. Rathod, Loren M. Brown and Daniel A. Wartell said only that “allocation of the proceeds” between Sheneen McClain and father Lawayne Mosley were being determined.
A city spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for information, but the city confirmed the settlement to NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
The suit alleged that the city, three police officers, two paramedics and the medical director of Aurora Fire Rescue violated the 23-year-old’s civil rights when a chokehold was used during the confrontation and he was injected with ketamine.
He was subjected to “brutal force” and then sedated for a dubious medical condition called “excited delirium,” the suit states.
“Elijah was listening to music, enjoying the short walk home from the corner store with some iced tea when Aurora police officers grabbed, tackled, and assaulted him,” the lawsuit said of the Aug. 24, 2019, confrontation.
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Authorities have said officers believed McClain posed a threat to officers.
Three officers responding to a call of a suspicious person wearing a mask stopped Elijah McClain as he walked home from a store. His family said he wore a mask as a result of a blood condition that often made him feel cold.
McClain told officers he was an introvert and to “please respect the boundaries that I am speaking,” according to audio from police body camera recordings.
Officers grabbed him after questioning, and a chokehold was applied. One of the officers said he believed McClain had reached for a holstered service weapon during a physical struggle.
During the confrontation, McClain told police, “I can’t breathe, please,” which was captured on police video.
After he was handcuffed, arriving paramedics injected him with ketamine, a hallucinogenic anesthetic. Seven minutes later he went into cardiac arrest, according to a prosecutor’s report.
McClain died at a hospital three days later, and the cause of death was not determined.
“Aurora Fire appears to have accepted the officers’ impression that Mr. McClain had excited delirium without corroborating that impression through meaningful observations or diagnostic examination of Mr. McClain,” a report commissioned by the City Council concluded early this year.
The man’s death sparked national protests under the Black Lives Matter movement.
Three officers, as well as two paramedics, were indicted by a state grand jury last month on manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges.
Aurora officers Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard have been suspended without pay indefinitely, and officer Jason Rosenblatt has been fired.
Rosenblatt was accused of responding to a text message that included imagery of officers mocking a chokehold near a memorial for McClain with the words “ha ha.”
Records indicate the officers have a court date on Nov. 1.
The court schedule for the charged paramedics could not be accessed.
The Aurora Police Association has stood by the officers, saying they did nothing wrong. The hysterical overreaction to this case has severely damaged the Police Department.”
The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday regarding the settlement.
The Aurora Fire Fighters Protective Association did not immediately respond to an inquiry regarding the indictment and settlement.
Last year, Colorado became the first state to end “qualified immunity” that generally shields individual officers from legal claims.
Lindsey Pipia contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
