The mother of an 18-year-old man shot and killed by Los Angeles police in August is suing the city.
Prescious Sasser and the estate of her son, Kenney Watkins, brought the lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging wrongful death, negligence, assault, battery, negligent hiring and civil rights violations. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office, responded to the lawsuit Tuesday.
“We will review the suit and I don’t have any further comment,” Wilcox said.
According to police, Officer Evan Urias was on a motorcycle when he stopped a car in the 400 block of West Century Boulevard about 3:30 p.m. Aug. 16. Watkins, a passenger in the car, got out and started running, police said.
Urias and other officers — listed as “Does” in the lawsuit — chased Watkins and subsequently shot him multiple times, according to the lawsuit.
Watkins was unarmed and was not a threat to the officers, the suit states.
The suit alleges Urias and some of the other officers were previously accused of violating the civil rights of others while working as Kern County sheriff’s deputies. Despite that history, the LAPD failed to properly train the officers to use methods other than deadly force when encountering fleeing suspects who ignore commands to stop, according to the lawsuit.
