The city of South Pasadena reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of actress Vanessa Marquez, who was shot and killed by police at her home during a welfare check in 2018, when authorities alleged she was brandishing. what the police believed to be a weapon.
Marquez’s mother, Delia McElfresh, filed suit last August in Los Angeles federal court against the city of South Pasadena, her former police chief and several officers. The lawsuit alleged bad tactics and overreaction by the police led to the actress’s fatal shooting.
“Any loss of life is tragic,” South Pasadena Mayor Diana Mahmud said in a recent statement. “However, I can now report that the parties reached a mutually acceptable agreement in the amount of $ 450,000 in order to save the parties the costs associated with protracted litigation.
Most of the cost of the litigation and the settlement will come from the city’s risk pool, South Pasadena said in a press release.
The lawsuit – which also alleged illegal entry, unjustified detention, excessive use of force and violation of due process – did not specify the amount of compensation sought. A lawsuit that was the precursor to a separate lawsuit filed at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in June sought $ 20 million. As part of the deal, all actions will be dismissed at a loss, the city said.
Marquez, known for her roles on the TV show “ER” and in the movie “Stand and Deliver”, had a history of seizures and struggled with mental health problems. After a friend made a call on August 30, 2018, requesting a welfare check, the police entered the 49-year-old girl’s residence at 1100 block on Fremont Avenue and woke her up, and she suffered a seizure in her room , according to a video cop from the body’s camera.
Police and a county mental health clinician spoke to Marquez for more than an hour in an effort to persuade her to accept medical help, officials said. When she refused, the police informed her that she was being placed under a 5150 detention call to involuntarily take her to the hospital. Marquez protested and refused to be arrested, according to the video from the body’s camera.
The video shows Marquez reaching for a bag and pulling out what looked like scissors before reaching for another object.
A police officer is heard in the video shouting that Marquez had a gun while he draws his own gun and leaves the room. At one point, Marquez is heard shouting what looks like, “Kill me”.
The police retreat downstairs from the apartment, shouting for Marquez to talk to them and drop the gun. Minutes later, Marquez appears at the top of the stairs with an object in his hand. The police yell again for her to drop what she is holding before firing repeatedly. The authorities later said that a pistol-like compressed air gun was found beside it.
The lawsuit claimed that Marquez was shot “when he was not facing the police, when the police were at a safe distance from her and when there was no imminent threat of serious injury or death to the police or others”.
“The situation demanded a slowdown and there were several options available to the police if they were really concerned about the well-being of Ms. Marquez,” the suit says. “There was no urgency to forcibly remove Ms. Marquez from her home. Instead of reducing the situation, more police invaded his building, ”including one with an AR-22 rifle.
In March, the Los Angeles County Prosecutor’s office decided not to open criminal charges against two police officers involved in the shooting, saying they acted legally by firing 12 shots at Marquez because they believed she posed an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death.
Marquez made headlines in 2017 when he accused George Clooney of “ER” of helping to get her blacklisted on the series. Clooney denied the charges.
In the years before his death, Marquez used social media to refer to his struggles against celiac disease and seizures. She wrote on Facebook in March 2018 that she was “terminally ill”. She also posted on social media in the months before the fatal encounter about her desire to die and the purchase of an air gun that resembled a Glock.
Times staff writers Colleen Shalby and Hannah Fry contributed to this report.