Documents signal potential settlement in wrongful death lawsuit against city of Charlotte
A mediation report filed Monday is a sign that a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Charlotte — filed after a man died in police custody three years ago — could reach a settlement soon, according to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Harold Easter, 41, died Jan. 26, 2020 — three days after his arrest and detainment in a police station. Police documents revealed officers knew Easter swallowed cocaine during a traffic stop and left him in an interview room for at least 20 minutes. They didn’t call paramedics.
He had a seizure and heart trouble and collapsed on the floor, where he stayed for 10 minutes until officers found him and called an ambulance.
He died at the hospital.
Months later, Easter’s sister, Andrell Mackey, organized a march through uptown Charlotte. Friends, family and acquaintances of Easter’s, along with strangers — about 50, in all — walked beside her holding a banner with his picture. In the photo, he was drinking water: the thing police refused her brother, Mackey said.
In a January lawsuit she said police “denied him water, and left him alone to die.” She sued five former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers and the city.
Police Chief Johnny Jennings cited all five — four officers and one sergeant — for termination for not following long-standing policy and calling MEDIC. All five resigned in September 2020, two days before CMPD released video of Easter shackled and seizing in an interview room.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather in 2020 called Easter’s death “an abject failure” of police procedures but determined the officers would not face criminal charges.
His office could not prove involuntary manslaughter, the most applicable charge, he said.
Prosecutors would have to show the officers’ failure to follow procedures and call MEDIC caused Easter’s death. The DA’s office lacked evidence officers should have known he swallowed drugs, and it could not prove the officers’ failure “amounted to criminal negligence.”
Easter’s sister also sued the city, because it is responsible for training officers, she said in the lawsuit. She sought more than $25,000 in damages, the minimum amount required for civil lawsuits to be filed and considered in court.
While the courts cannot recognize settlements until a stipulation of dismissal is filed, Monday’s mediation report could signal a pending agreement, said Courtroom Deputy Candace Cochran.
This story was originally published April 4, 2023 at 1:40 PM.
