As was recently reported in the New York Post, Sandra Caroline Jones, the administrator of the Estate of Darrius Hayward Kennedy (who was fatally shot by New York City police officers on August 11, 2012) recently filed a lawsuit in New York State court against the City of New York.
In pertinent part, plaintiff alleges that:
- two NYPD officers “accosted” Mr. Kennedy at 44th Street and Seventh Avenue “in an aggressive way” and accused him of smoking marijuana;
- Mr. Kennedy (a “visibly disturbed person”), fearing for his safety, pulled out a knife and retreated;
- while Mr. Kennedy retreated south on Seventh Avenue “many other police officers … came to the scene and participated in the pursuit” of Mr. Kennedy;
- the officers “maintained unnecessarily close contact” with Mr. Kennedy, thereby “exacerbating the situation”; and
- while Mr. Kennedy was “cornered” at Seventh Avenue and 37th St., the officers shot him to death “without lawful basis, reason or justification.”
Plaintiff asserts claims of, e.g., assault and battery, violations of the Fourth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and violations of Article I, Sections 11 and 12 of the New York State Constitution.