White police officers shooting unarmed Black men is nothing new. Families of police shooting victims suing city police departments and the subsequent denial of wrong doing is nothing new. And the families of police shooting victims receiving monetary settlements certainly isn’t new either. But the city and police department offering an apology to the family and a memorial to the victim? And the victim’s children being fellow law enforcement officers of the perpetrators? That’s pretty new.
The family of 67-year old Eugene Ellison was set to go to trial in a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Little Rock this past Monday, May 9 when the city settled at the 11th hour. Little Rock Police Department officers Donna Lesher and Tabitha McCrillis had been working off-duty as security guards at the Big Country Chateau Apartment Complex in December of 2010. While patrolling the complex they say they noticed an open door on a second floor unit. Thinking it was odd that a door would be ajar on a chilly evening the officers entered the unit where Ellison was sitting on his couch. Ellison told the officers he was fine but the officers, noting that Ellison’s apartment appeared to be in disarray, refused to leave and continued to question Ellison. That’s when they say he became agitated and charged them. The Ellison family’s lawyer says the Navy veteran who had served in Vietnam was simply moving to show the officers out of his home and shut his front door. That’s when “all hell broke loose,” as they say. Lesher and Willis were ultimately cleared by the department of any wrongdoing. Lesher, also, just happened to be married to the sergeant of Little Rock PD’s Detective Division, which handles the criminal investigation aspect of officer-involved shootings. A recap of the events, including links to testimony from the officers, can be found here.
Ellison’s sons—Troy, who is currently a Little Rock Police Department detective, and Spencer, who is a former detective who now teaches criminal justice—initiated the lawsuit and say that the apology was the most important thing. A video of Troy speaking to ABC local affiliate station KATV is below the fold.
Mike Laux, the Ellison family attorney, says the $900,000 settlement from the city (combined with a settlement from the apartment complex) represent the largest civil rights settlement ever paid in the state’s history. A formal apology and a memorial in honor of the victim are probably also unheard of. Hopefully, other cities and their police departments will not see a need to duplicate this case.