Attorneys Representing Family Of Keenan Anderson File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against LAPD

Attorneys representing the family of 31-year-old Keenan Anderson announced on Monday the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit against the LAPD.

Anderson died Jan. 3, hours after an LAPD officer tased him multiple times following a traffic collision.

An autopsy completed by the L.A. County coroner said Anderson died from the effects of an enlarged heart and cocaine use but concluded that the manner of death was “undetermined.”

In the lawsuit, attorneys representing Anderson’s 5-year-old son claim the use of the Taser device on Anderson was careless, mistaken, and “a substantial factor leading to his death.”

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“Look at the video, your eyes are not deceiving you,” attorney Ben Crump, who is co-counsel on the case, told a press conference Monday. “What killed him [Anderson] was an overdose of excessive force, it’s that simple,” he said. Crump said the lawsuit seeks $100 million in damages.

Attorney Carl Douglas, who will co-represent Anderson’s son and the boy’s mother, Gabrielle Hansell, said an independent autopsy also found that Anderson had cocaine in his system the day he died.

“But it matters not whether there was cocaine in his system, because the actions of the officers were wrong,” Douglas said. “It matters not why he was in distress, because it’s clear from the body-worn footage that he was never a threat,” he added.

Keenan Anderson's photo was displayed at the press conference Monday.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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The department “does not comment on pending litigation cases,” an LAPD spokesperson said in an email.

What body-camera footage shows

LAPD Chief Michel Moore released officer body-worn camera footage of the incident in January.

Anderson appears distraught when talking with officers and says at one point that someone is trying to kill him.

An officer can be seen repeatedly tasing Anderson after attempting to detain him. At one point Anderson says, “They’re trying to George Floyd me.” Hours after he was tased, Anderson went into cardiac arrest and died at a Santa Monica hospital. The department claimed Anderson was trying to flee the scene of the traffic accident.

Anderson’s family said earlier this year that he was a dedicated English teacher in Washington, D.C. and was coping with the recent death of two of his students due to gun violence.

In other incidents occurring in the first week of 2023, Takar Smith and Oscar Leon Sanchez appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis when they were fatally shot by LAPD officers. According to the LAPD, of the 31 people officers shot at last year, nine had a perceived or confirmed mental illness.

At a press conference in January, Black Lives Matter co-founder — and Anderson’s cousin — Patrisse Cullors was joined by L.A. City Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Marqueece Harris-Dawson as she called for unarmed responses to mental health crises.

“Keenan, you deserved care ... you deserved compassion,” Cullors said a little over a week after her cousin died.

An ‘epidemic’ 

When speaking to reporters Monday, Crump said it was not a coincidence they chose to announce the lawsuit on Juneteenth.

“We wanted to send a message, not just to Los Angeles, but all across America, because there seems to be an epidemic of police and law enforcement killing Black people who are having mental health crises,” Crump said.

The wrongful death lawsuit follows a prior $50 million claim for damages, which was denied.