DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - The City of Des Moines, Iowa, and its police are blamed for the death of a 16-year-old who held a gun to his head during a standoff.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Dec. 22 against the City of Des Moines and several of its police officers. The plaintiff, Monica Woods, is the administrator of the estate of her deceased son, T.J., who was killed by Des Moines police officers on December 26, 2022.
The defendants include the City of Des Moines, Chief of Police Dana Wingert and officers Thomas Garcia, Noah Bollinger, and Zachary Duitscher.
The lawsuit alleges that the 16-year-old T.J. was unlawfully killed by the use of deadly force by the defendant officers while they were acting under color of law for the City of Des Moines. The case is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983 to redress the deprivation under color of law of Decedent’s rights as secured by the United States Constitution.
The standoff is described in the complaint.
"During the encounter, T.J. made rambling comments about his older brother dying recently, stated, 'I wanna die,' and pulled out his phone and appeared to look at it," the motion says.
"The Defendants were still in the living room of the apartment arranged around T.J. between three and six feet from him while he stood in a corner. Then, T.J. looked down at the phone he was holding in his left hand, began raising his right hand, which held the handgun, towards his own head.
"At all times while raising his hand, the barrel of the handgun was pointed to T.J.’s immediate left and not in the direction of any officer. At the point in which T.J.’s arm was parallel to the ground across his stomach, Defendant Duitscher fired two shots at T.J., causing him to double over, fall to the ground, and drop his handgun.
"Defendants Bollinger and Garcia immediately fired multiple additional shots at T.J. after Defendant Duitscher shot T.J., striking him as well."
The plaintiff's attorneys are Lawrence H. Hyman and Jacob M. Oeth.