Civil rights attorney to sue Knox County sheriff, UT Medical over deaths of Black men
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump visited Knoxville on Wednesday to discuss lawsuits against Knox County and the University of Tennessee Medical Center over the deaths of two Black men following encounters with county law enforcement officers.
Crump, who is representing the families of Daevon Saint-Germain and David Batts, compared the death of Saint-Germain to that of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during a police raid in Louisville, Ky, in March 2020.
'This is Knoxville's Breonna Taylor,' Crump said. 'The killing of an 18-year-old high school senior. There are so many unanswered questions as to why he was shot nine times, and no video footage exists to explain why this young man was killed that morning.'
Saint-Germain was shot and killed on Jan. 3 by Knox County Sheriff SWAT deputies during an early morning raid at his family's south Knoxville home.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) says deputies were carrying out a search warrant when Saint-Germain allegedly showed a firearm, prompting officers to open fire. The warrant was reportedly issued based on social media activity that investigators claimed linked Saint-Germain to drug sales, including marijuana and THC products.
But the details of what happened during the raid remain murky. SWAT officers involved were not wearing body cameras, a fact that has fueled growing concerns over transparency and accountability of the KCSO. Saint-Germain's family, who were inside the home at the time, deny the allegations about him.
Despite the absence of body camera footage, Crump expressed confidence in his legal team's path forward.
'With eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, and strong expert testimony, we believe we can bring a successful 1983 civil rights wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Daevon's family,' he said.
In March after a petition circulated calling for answers and police reform, Sheriff Tom Spangler expressed regret at the lack of body cameras but defended the actions of deputies.
Spangler announced at a community meeting that he directed his SWAT team members to begin using body cameras after discovering they were not equipped with them during the raid.
'They did not have cameras. I wish they had, but they didn't and that's it. But, with that said, they are already in place now,' he said.
Crump also attributed the circumstances surrounding delivery of the warrant to racial bias.
'This was a kid with no criminal history,' said Crump. 'And we are talking about an alleged social media post about marijuana. Can you imagine if they started kicking in everyone's door in violation of the fourth amendment because of marijuana?
'Sadly this only seems to happen to Black people in this country,' he said.
David Batts needed help. It's troubling so many times when a Black person in America is having a medical crisis or mental health crisis, it is not treated as a medical issue.
– Ben Crump
Five days after Saint-Germain's death, 46-year-old David Batts died on Jan. 8 following a violent encounter with law enforcement at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility. Batts was arrested the day before after causing an alleged disturbance at the Knoxville Area Transit center and was initially taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. There, he was accused of assaulting two nurses, which led to his transfer to the county jail.
Within minutes of his arrival at the facility, deputies attempted to force Batts to change into a jail uniform. When he did not comply, officers pepper-sprayed him, used a Taser on him four times, and struck him repeatedly. The blows to his face were so severe that family members later said he was nearly unrecognizable. Batts was found unresponsive the next day and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Crump said that Batts was in need of care, not violence.
'David Batts needed help. It's troubling so many times when a Black person in America is having a medical crisis or mental health crisis, it is not treated as a medical issue,' he said. 'It is treated as a criminal issue, and it is met with excessive force and brutality.'
According to the KCSO, Batts was non compliant, which prompted officers to use force. Body camera footage released by the sheriff's office shows Batts struggling to follow commands during attempts to check his vital signs. Batts was taken back to UTMC where he died in the hospital.
The Knox County District Attorney's Office reviewed the incident and concluded that Batts' death was caused by meningitis, not by the actions of law enforcement officers.
'Based on my review of the body camera footage and the Medical Examiner's preliminary findings, I have concluded that the officers involved responded to Mr. Batts' assaultive and resistive behavior with appropriate force under the circumstances,' District Attorney Charme Allen wrote in a statement.
Crump, along with co-counsel Troy Jones, a Knoxville lawyer, said the legal team will file dual suits — one for medical malpractice against the University of Tennessee Medical Center and a federal civil rights wrongful death suit against the Knox County Sheriff's Department.
Crump also urged Knoxville community members to stay vigilant and continue raising awareness about the deaths of Batts and Saint-Germain. He acknowledged the challenge of mobilizing in a city where only 17 percent of the population is African American, but emphasized that justice requires persistence even without overwhelming numbers.
'I believe when you have truth on your side, you have a moral majority,' he said. 'And so I want the community to remain engaged and have the same convictions they have with all these other cases across the country.'
Crump has represented families of other men and women who died following altercations with law enforcement, including Taylor, Tyre Nichols of Memphis and George Floyd, the Minnesota man whose killing launched nationwide protests in 2020.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Father's murder in Lincoln Park still unsolved nearly two decades later
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — On Aug. 16, 2006, 31-year-old Andre Mahan, a father of two and a custodian with the San Diego Unified School District, was fatally shot inside the family's apartment at Creekside Villas in Lincoln Park. Investigators have not identified a suspect or determined a motive in the case. 'It hurts like it happened today,' said his widow, Essie Mae Horne, who was home with their 18-month-old son and 7-year-old daughter when the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Horne recalled hearing a loud noise that she thought was a car backfiring. Moments later, she said she saw a teenage boy standing in her doorway with a gun. Police seek answers nearly 3 decades after woman's body found in El Cajon 'There was a young light-skinned Black male, looked to be 13 or 14 years old, standing in my doorway facing me with his arm up — and he fired,' Horne said. The bullet missed her but struck Mahan, who collapsed in the kitchen. Horne said her husband tried to speak as blood came from his mouth and nose, but he died within minutes. Their daughter, Dominique, who was still a young child at the time, later wrote a poem about her grief. Horne said her son, who was too young to remember his father, still wonders who he was. In the years since, Horne has launched a nonprofit called TWEEN-SWAG — which stands for 'Together We Elevate Each Other in our Neighborhood Simply With A Lot of Grace' — to support families coping with gun violence. She continues to hope someone will come forward with information about the killer. 'If anybody who came here August 16, 2006, to kill my husband and try to kill me, please say something,' she said. Authorities said anyone with information about the case can contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers. A $1,000 reward is being offered. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
Man charged in standoff at Dirksen Federal Courthouse to be released Thursday
The man behind an hours-long standoff last month at Chicago's Dirksen Federal Courthouse will be released from federal custody on Thursday. Mario Santoyo, 38, is facing the charge of possession of a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors said on Tuesday, July 22, Santoyo went into the courthouse, at 219 S. Dearborn St. downtown, and asked to speak to the FBI about "gangsters" he said were trying to kill him. When he was told the FBI does not have an office in the building, prosecutors said Santoyo held a knife to his throat — which put the building on lockdown. A standoff with Santoyo ensued, and went on all through the afternoon and well into the evening. A large FBI, SWAT and Chicago police presence responded to the scene, as well as agents from the Department of Homeland Security and unmarked police vehicles. It was not until just before 8 p.m. that Santoyo was tackled by law enforcement and removed from the courthouse lobby on a stretcher. He had suffered a neck wound. Santoyo's next court date is set for Oct. 9.
NBC News
12 hours ago
- NBC News
Eric André lawsuit over drug search at Atlanta airport revived by appeals court
A federal appeals court decided to reverse the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by comedians Eric André and Clayton English in 2022 in which they claim their Forth Amendment rights were violated. André and English alleged in their lawsuit that Clayton County officers stopped them in two separate incidents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while inside the jet bridge as they were about to board flights. The Black celebrities say they were told to hand over their boarding passes and IDs, and asked if they were carrying illegal drugs. The pair allege the officers violated their Fourth Amendment rights "to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures," according to the federal appellant court opinion published on Friday. They also claimed that the officers stopped them based on their race. Their lawsuit was eventually dismissed in 2023 by the district court, citing the plaintiff's "failure to plausibly allege any constitutional violations," and all defendants, including Clayton County and the police department's chief, were protected by immunity. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in its opinion that it found that André and English "plausibly alleged that Clayton County subjected them to unreasonable searches and seizures" and reversed the dismissal "after careful review." The court affirmed the remainder of the district court's dismissal, which includes the celebrities' claim that they were stopped by the officers based on their race. The Clayton County Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News has reached out to representatives for André and English for comment. Two separate incidents, one year apart English was traveling from Atlanta to Los Angeles for work in 2020 when he says Clayton County officers stopped him on the jet bridge after he had cleared TSA security and a boarding pass check by a gate agent, according to his and André's 2022 lawsuit. "The officers flashed their badges and asked English whether he was carrying any illegal drugs," the lawsuit said. "English denied carrying illegal drugs. English 'understood that he was not free to leave and continue his travel while the officers were questioning him.'" Officers stood on either side of English, blocking his path to the plane, and asked him for his boarding pass and ID, which he handed over because he felt he had no choice but to comply, according to the lawsuit. An officer also asked to search English's carry-on, which he allowed them to do, "believing he had no choice." The officers let English go after checking his bag, per the lawsuit. "Throughout the encounter, Mr. English was worried that if he said anything the officers perceived as 'out of line,' he would not be allowed to board the plane or reach his destination," the lawsuit stated. In 2021, André was traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, to Atlanta before heading home to Los Angeles. He was stopped on the jet bridge while trying to board his flight in Atlanta. André was also stopped on the jet bridge after clearing multiple security points, according to the lawsuit. Officers also asked the comedian if he was carrying any illegal drugs, like cocaine or methamphetamine, which he denied, the lawsuit said. He was also allegedly asked to hand over his ID and boarding pass and complied, believing he could not refuse. "After approximately five minutes of standing in the narrow jet bridge and being questioned, Mr. André was told by the officers that he was free to leave and board the plane," according to the lawsuit. The stops were part of the Clayton County Police Department's "drug interdiction program," which aims to selectively stop passengers on the jet bridge before they board flights to ask them if they are carrying drugs and request to search their luggage. The department claims the stops are random and consensual. André and English claim that the stops are not random or consensual, and that the Clayton County police program specifically targets Black passengers and other passengers of color, according to the court opinion. There were 402 jet bridge stops from Aug. 30, 2020, to April 30, 2021, according to police records, and passengers' races were listed for 378 of those stops. Of those 378 passengers, 211, or 56%, were Black, and people of color accounted for 258 total stops, or 68%, the celebrities' lawsuit states, The Associated Press reported. André called the experience "dehumanizing and demoralizing." "People were gawking at me, and I looked suspicious when I had done nothing wrong," André said in an interview at the time of the lawsuit filing. The court's decision In its decision, the federal appeals court held that the complaint sufficiently alleged that the coercive nature of the defendants' actions during their stops of André and English made them feel that they were not free to leave, or that they were "seized" by the officers, meaning they plausibly alleged that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated. English "plausibly alleged that the officers stopped him and began asking questions without telling him he could leave until after they finished questioning him," the court said, adding that they came to the same conclusion with André. However, the court did not find that the comedians were able to plausibly allege that the officers were acting with discriminatory purpose when they stopped them, citing that André and English "do not allege that the individual defendants knew of any racially discriminatory complaint or saw the County's logs or that the County directed the individual defendants to single out Black passengers for interdictions." "For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that plaintiffs plausibly alleged that defendants violated their Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures," the court said. "The individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity, but Clayton County is not. Accordingly, we reverse the dismissal of plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claims against Clayton County. We affirm the dismissal of plaintiffs' remaining claims."
