ST. LOUIS — A mother is suing the St. Louis Police Pepartment and its police officers for an alleged breach of duty that resulted in a wrongful death of her child.
Karen Powell filed a complaint on July 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against police officers Nicholas Shelton and Ellis Brown, former Police Chief Sam Dotson and the City of St, Louis, alleging that the defendants violated the laws, policies and customs of the St. Louis Police Department, which resulted in the unreasonable seizure of decedent Kajieme Powell.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that her child, Kajieme Powell, was shot and killed on Aug. 19, 2014 after an altercation with the defendants. The plaintiff claims that her child was mentally ill, had been on medication and was not a threat to anyone. Kajieme Powell allegedly died at the scene of the shooting and the defendants reportedly placed handcuffs on Kajieme, though he was already dead.
The plaintiff holds the defendants responsible for allegedly failing to take appropriate measures to assess the situation, provide the Kajieme Powell's rights under the Fourth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and for using deadly force on a mentally ill person when it was allegedly obvious that the person could not comply with any commands.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for compensatory damages, the costs of action, attorney fees, costs and for such other relief as the court deems just and proper under the circumstances. She is represented by Jermaine Wooten of the Legal Solution Group in St. Louis.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri case number 4:17-cv-02017-HEA