Dearborn Sued for $10M In Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Black Man

DEARBORN, MI — The estate of a man fatally shot after a foot chase with police last year is suing the city of Dearborn for $10 million. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, also accuses a police officer, who has not been publicly identified by the Dearborn Police Department, of using excessive force last December when he shot Kevin Matthews, 35, nine times.

The plaintiffs are asking for $10 million against the city an $10 million against the officer.

Matthews, whose family says is mentally ill and unarmed, was fatally shot during a scuffle with the Dearborn police officer on the afternoon of Dec. 23, 2015, near the Detroit-Dearborn border. Police have said that the officer saw Matthews, who was wanted on a probation violation, walking on the street and chased him into the back yard of a home on Whitcomb in Detroit, where a struggle began for the officer’s gun.

In the complaint, lawyers for Matthews’ estate say the office “reverted to the use of excessive force and shot his departmental issued handgun from defendant City of Dearborn a total of nine times into the chest and torso of ... Kevin Matthews, and in essence, executing (him) ... as a result of his failing to stop during the aforesaid foot pursuit.”

The lawsuit also alleges that police officers n Dearborn aren’t properly trained to deal with suspects who have mental health issues, and that police “undertake unlawful and unequal treatment” against African-Americans in and around Dearborn.

Matthews’ shooting was the first of two deadly shootings of unarmed African-Americans by Dearborn officers in a period of about a month. On Jan. 27, Janet Wilson, 31, of Detroit, was shot and killed by after a short police pursuit following a disturbance at Fairlane Town Center mall. Wilson was shot dead after she allegedly attempted to run over a police, who pursued her after the dispute with mall security.

The city has been sued for $10 million in Wilson’s death as well.

After the two shootings, the Justice Department said federal officials would review the Dearborn Police Department’s use-of-force policies and provide de-escalation training under a federal program that provides technical assistance.

Intervention by the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) came at the request of Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad.

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