McDade Attorney Files Wrongful Death Claim Against Pasadena Police

See the Documents Filed in Court Today

Caree Harper, the attorney for the family of the 19-year-old black student  shot to death by two white Pasadena police officers on March 24, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in United States Central District Court alleging wrongful death and civil rights violations.

McDade was killed by police as they responded to a 911 armed robbery radio call. Police later determined that McDade was not armed and that the 911 caller had lied.

In the filing, Harper alleges that after shooting McDade the police officers handcuffed him as he lay dying and “twitching” and refused to administer first aid. McDade died later at a local hospital.

Harper, a Beverly Hills civil rights attorney, filed the lawsuit on behalf of McDade’s estate and his parents,  father Kenneth McDade and mother Anya Slaughter, and names Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip L. Sanchez, Officer Matthew Griffin, Officer Jeffrey Newlen and Detective Keith Gomez as defendants in the case.

She alleges in the lawsuit that the Pasadena Police Dept. engages in a “pattern and practice of covering up excessive force.”

No dollar amount for damages is specified in the filing. The plaintiffs have asked the court that damages be determined at trial.