It’s not over in the case of Keenan Anderson. With Anderson’s young son in mind, lawyers have filed a $50-million wrongful death claim against the city of Los Angeles last Friday.
The suit claims the 31-year-old teacher died as a result of “serious injuries” from an LAPD officer who repeatedly used a taser on Anderson after a traffic accident. The claim is requesting $35 million due to damages against Anderson’s son and, according to CNN, $15 million for Anderson’s estate, citing the city “failed to properly train the involved officers” who used “unreasonable deadly force.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that attorneys Ben Crump and Carl Douglas claim the force used by officers amounted to a “serious injury and damages to his mind and body, and four and one-half hours later [he] dies as a result of the injuries and damages he sustained at the hands of the LAPD police officers.”
Anderson’s death made national headlines earlier this month when officers responded to an accident involving several vehicles on Venice Boulevard. Drivers claimed Anderson caused the accident, saying he was agitated and talking incoherently.
Police camera footage shows the victim following police orders, telling him to sit on the sidewalk. Anderson can be heard saying, “Help, they’re trying to kill me” while sitting. Afterward, Anderson suddenly runs into the intersection. The video then shows an officer tasing him several times, while he yells, “I’m not resisting.” Anderson was provided with medical support on the scene but later died after being transported to a hospital.
The beloved teacher was the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors. She posted a touching
photo via Instagram saying Anderson “deserves to be alive right now” and the family will “fight for you.” “Having to hear Keenan cry out for help the way he did and to watch him be hurt by the very people who are supposed to protect him is something I will never get over,” said Anderson’s five-year-old son’s mother, Gabrielle Hansell.
Since the incident, the LAPD says all but one of the unidentified six officers involved have returned to work and claim the focus of the incident has been the application taser and is “being looked at closely.” The estate’s legal team is planning to ask the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the case, as this is third officer-involved death in Los Angeles this year.