#StephonClark: Family Files $35 Million Wrongful Death Claim With City of Sacramento

It has been nearly six months since two Sacramento police officers shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark as he stood in the backyard of his grandmother’s home. The SPD’s internal investigation of the shooting is still ongoing, as is the investigation being led by the California State Attorney General. Both officers involved in Clark’s death have been back on the job for at least four months, and activists continue to stage actions in his name—demanding justice for his death.

A source told the Sacramento Bee that Clark’s family has filed $35 million in wrongful death claims with the city of Sacramento. While the city has not officially released any documents to confirm this, a news release acknowledged that claims forms seeking damages “in excess of $15 million” for “nine separate causes of action that include negligence and wrongful death” have been filed with the city.

Los Angeles attorney Dale Galipo and other attorneys reportedly filed claims seeking $20 million for Clark’s two children and $15 million for his grandparents and parents. According to the Bee, the documents were filed just before the six-month deadline to submit a wrongful death claim to the city. Such claims usually indicate a federal civil rights lawsuit will follow.

Clark was killed March 18 by two Sacramento police officers who were responding to reports of a man smashing car windows—which would have amounted to no more than a misdemeanor had he been apprehended alive.

The officers who killed Clark claimed they feared for their lives and thought Clark was holding a gun. He was only holding a cell phone.