Eric Lurry Federal Lawsuit Settlement Revealed: Joliet Taxpayers On Hook For Over $2 Million

JOLIET, IL — The city of Joliet on Friday afternoon furnished Joliet Patch with its financial settlement to resolve Nicole Lurry's August 2020 federal lawsuit against Joliet and four police officials who were involved in the events leading up to husband Eric Lurry's death in the backseat of a Joliet police car.

The taxpayer-funded settlement amount is $2,150,000, the documents show.

Last June, Joliet Patch reported that behind a locked door in closed session, the Joliet City Council was expected to meet with their attorneys to decide whether to reach a settlement with Nicole Lurry to resolve her five-year-long federal lawsuit over the death of her husband, Eric Lurry, in Joliet police custody.

On May 7, 2025, Joliet Patch revealed that the city of Joliet and the Joliet Police Department received news that their efforts to convince federal judge Jeffrey Cummings to dismiss Nicole Lurry's August 2020 federal lawsuit for the death of her husband were unsuccessful.

The federal judge issued a 68-page ruling, and while some of plaintiff Nicole Lurry's claims were thrown out, several others stayed. The four defendant Joliet police officers in the Lurry lawsuit are Lt. Jeremy Harrison, now-retired Sgt. Doug May, Officer Jose Tellez and now-former Officer Andrew McCue.

In March of 2025, Joliet Patch reported that Joliet Police Officer Cassie Socha and her lawyer, Hall Adams of Chicago, settled their federal civil rights lawsuit for a total of $287,000 to resolve her revenge porn lawsuit against her employer, the Joliet Police Department and the City of Joliet, but that was only part of the story. Patch later learned that the city's outside legal costs during the past seven years of federal litigation on Socha's case totaled nearly $677,000.

Last September, Patch reported how the Eric Lurry tragedy prompted then-Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and several Joliet City Council members to sign a letter asking Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate the Joliet Police Department, which the AG's Office agreed to do.

The September 2024 158-page Attorney General's report found the Joliet Police Department had a pattern of using excessive force against the community and that Joliet police discriminate against Black people and perhaps Latino citizens, based on the Attorney General's five- and seven-year data reviews of Joliet police arrests, traffic stops, vehicle searches and use of force incidents.

Read the settlement here:

READ MORE:

• Eric Lurry Lawsuit: Joliet Wants To Settle Case After 5 Years Of Federal Litigation
• Joliet Officer Turned Off Car's Video System As Eric Lurry Died
• 7-Day Suspension: Joliet Police Sgt. Slapped, Demeaned Eric Lurry
• Unlawful Policing Investigation Launched In Joliet: AG's Office