Family of Giovonn Joseph-McDade Wins $4.4 Million Settlement After Fatal Kent Police Shooting
Won by Schroeter Goldmark & Bender.
The family of Giovonn Joseph-McDade, an unarmed 20-year-old Black man shot and killed by a Kent Police officer in 2017 following a traffic stop for expired registration, settled their federal civil-rights and wrongful-death lawsuit against the City of Kent for $4.4 million in April 2021.
What happened
On June 24, 2017, Kent Police Officer Matthew Rausch initiated a traffic stop on Giovonn Joseph-McDade for expired vehicle registration. Joseph-McDade, 20 years old, did not pull over. Rausch pursued him and attempted a Pursuit Intervention Technique maneuver, ending the chase in a residential cul-de-sac near Canterbury Park. Officer William Davis then fired two rounds into the vehicle, killing Joseph-McDade inside it. Davis claimed the car was moving toward him at dangerous speed. Independent experts retained by the family reached a different conclusion: the vehicle was traveling slowly and Davis was not in its path.
The King County inquest jury that convened in December 2017 found that Davis had believed Joseph-McDade posed a threat, and Kent concluded its officers had acted within department policy and state law. Both Davis and Rausch returned to active duty. Joseph-McDade's parents, Sonia Joseph and Giovanni McDade, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in May 2020, alleging the officers deprived their son of his constitutional rights by engaging in an unreasonable pursuit and a shooting without legal justification.
Schroeter Goldmark and Bender attorneys Craig Sims and Kaitlin Cherf took the case to the edge of trial. In February 2021, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein refused to dismiss the deadly-force claim, denying that part of the City's motion for summary judgment. She ruled that the evidence raised 'serious disputes' with the city's account of the shooting and that a jury could find the use of deadly force was not constitutionally justified. The ruling cleared the case for an August 2021 trial date.
Before trial, the City of Kent agreed to a $4.4 million settlement. As part of the resolution, the City also agreed to design and install a memorial bench at Canterbury Park at the family's request. At the time it was announced, in April 2021, it was among the largest civil-rights settlements in Kent's history.
Sonia Joseph said her fight was never only about money. 'My journey through this horrifying, ugly process led me to work on police reform,' she told reporters. The case drew attention to gaps in Washington state law on vehicle pursuits and deadly force, and King County subsequently changed its public fact-finding process for investigating officer-involved shootings.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Kent Reporter: Mother's fight for justice leads to $4.4M settlement with Kent in son's death (Apr 15, 2021)·Archived copy
- 2.Kent Reporter: City of Kent settles Joseph-McDade civil rights lawsuit for $4.4 million·Archived copy
- 3.KUOW (NPR Seattle): Kent police killing of Black man leads to $4.4M settlement and push for new laws·Archived copy
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