STOCKTON, Calif. — A family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Stockton after they say their loved one died when he was held face down by Stockton police officers for several minutes and stopped breathing.
Karen Sutherland and her attorney James DeSimone said they have settled the wrongful death lawsuit of Karen’s son Shayne Sutherland for $6 million. The City of Stockton confirmed the news.
The lawsuit stems from an in custody death in October of 2020 at a North Stockton AM/PM. Stockton police was called after it was alleged Sutherland threatened to hit someone with a wine bottle.
When the police arrived, Sutherland admited to the police that he was under the influence. He spoke with the two officers, and shortly after, he tried to run away but was quickly caught.
Officers can be seen on body cameras holding him down. Officers applied pressure with their bodies and batons for several minutes to Sutherland’s neck and shoulder area and then he stopped breathing.
“I did not watch the video for over a year,” said Karen. “When I finally did watch it, I had to watch it without the sound.”
Karen’s life and her family’s lives were forever changed.
“I wish I had never seen it. To know that my son was suffering and begging for his life, no parent should ever have to watch that,” said Karen.
“This is a positional asphyxiation, which is well known to cause death,” said James DeSimone, the family’s attorney.
DeSimone said no one should have been killed in this situation.
“When he is begging for help, if you just take them and rolled him on his side, and say he was going to be OK, we are getting medical help, instead of taunting him and yelling at him to relax,” said DeSimone.
The family said Shayne was a football coach, a loving father, a loving son and he should still be here.
While the family settled a lawsuit, they want more action taken to prevent another death in police custody.
The heartbreak for the family came months after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. DeSimone said if Stockton police had followed their training, it would prevent more deaths.
“First rule of being a police officer should be the preservation of life. Shane Sutherland’s life mattered. And to those officers, they just exhibited a callous disregard of his life,” said DeSimone.
Karen is trying to preserve her son’s memory through his children and is making sure no other family has to go through the same pain she is going through.
“All they had to do was set him up, turn him to his side, and we would not be here today,” said Karen.
The family said preventive policies need to be adopted to prevent something like this from happening again. The settlement needs to be approved by the judge.
The City of Stockton confirmed the settlement but are expected to release more information in the following days.
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