The mother of a man killed during a traffic stop in Kansas City, Kansas, last year has filed a lawsuit against the local government, saying her son was unarmed and posed no threat to police when an officer killed him with a shot in his car.
Amaree’ya Henderson of Kansas City was died in April 2023 after a police officer jumped into the door frame of his vehicle to prevent Henderson from leaving a traffic stop, according to the lawsuit, filed Friday in the Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. District of Kansas office.
Lawyers for Pauletta Johnson, her mother, claim that the officer “blindly” fired at the vehicle – while Henderson’s girlfriend was in the passenger seat – and put himself in danger. He killed the 25-year-old when other, safer actions were available, the lawsuit says.
“A vehicle leaving a traffic stop does not give a police officer continued license to kill a non-threatening citizen,” the lawyers wrote in the filing, adding that there was never even an allegation that Henderson was “armed with any type of weapon.” and that he was not wanted for a crime.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, the police department and Officer Austin Schuler.
Kansas City, Kansas, police spokeswoman Nancy Chartrand said Friday in response to The Star’s request for comment that the officer remains employed with the department after being cleared in local and federal investigations.
“Both the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice reviewed the facts of the case and determined that criminal charges against Officer Schuler were not warranted,” she said in a statement.
Krystal McFeders, a spokeswoman for the county and city government, said in a statement that the Unified Government has not yet been notified of the lawsuit. She added that “the Unified Government cannot comment on any pending litigation.
Traffic stop gone wrong
On April 26, 2023, Henderson and his girlfriend Shakira Hill had just completed a DoorDash delivery in the Shawnee Heights neighborhood when Schuler stopped them on Metropolitan Avenue near the 12th Street Bridge, according to the lawsuit.
Henderson gave the officer his driver’s license and registration, according to the lawsuit. The couple believed the officer was writing a ticket for expired plates, according to the lawsuit, and Henderson contacted his mother via FaceTime.
More uniformed officers responded to the scene, according to the lawsuit, and Schuler approached the vehicle again with his flashlight. During the encounter, the attorneys allege that the officer unnecessarily escalated the situation by opening the door of Henderson’s vehicle.
Lawyers say Henderson, fearing for his life, began to run away as Schuler stood in the doorway, took the gun from its holster and shot the 25-year-old in the arm and face. The vehicle collided with a parked car.
Police said the officer was treated at the hospital for minor injuries following the shooting.
In addition to wrongfully killing Henderson, the lawsuit accuses the officer of violating police department policies and training.
Neither officer employed de-escalation techniques during the traffic stop, the attorneys allege. And shooting at a driver behind the wheel of a moving car — a practice generally discouraged by policing experts — is restricted by KCK police policy to situations in which an officer or other person is in danger.
In March 2023, a month after the shooting District Attorney Mark Dupree’s office said no criminal charges would be filed against the police officer. Prosecutors reviewed the evidence and concluded that the officer was in reasonable fear for his life when the vehicle took off at a “high rate of speed” and Henderson “refused orders” to stop.
Body camera footage requirements
The Henderson shooting sparked community protests in 2023, along with calls for transparency of activists in the area. Leaders of the police reform group Justice for Wyandotte last year called on law enforcement officials to release footage of the shooting to the public, a step taken in select cases including the murder of a former police detective who disarmed a police officer in 2022.
Body camera footage of the Henderson shooting was never publicly released. In Kansas, family members and their lawyers can view these recordings privately, but state law limits the situations in which the videos must be shared widely.
Body camera videos are considered criminal investigative records and are released publicly at the discretion of the police department or other officials, such as the district attorney.
The Star’s request for a copy of the video was denied by the Unified Government in December.
Over a five-year period, law enforcement authorities released video of the agency’s eight fatal shootings, a recent Starred Review of Body Camera Disclosures throughout the state found.
In April, the brother of a man killed in February 2023 filed a lawsuit for images from that police shooting. That case remains ongoing in Wyandotte County District Court.
The lawsuit filed Friday by Henderson’s mother includes allegations of violations of constitutional rights and wrongful death. It requires a jury trial in federal court.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24090214/STK171_VRG_Illo_4_Normand_ElonMusk_04.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1 "Texas Judge Who Owns Tesla Stock Refuses to Join Advertiser X Lawsuit")
