Details of the settlement in a $15 million wrongful death lawsuit involving the 2005 death of a Lynchburg man in the custody of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office were revealed in court Thursday.
Sanchez Taylor’s mother, Melva Taylor Davis, and his two brothers will split $325,000, according to court testimony. As part of the settlement, the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office admits no wrongdoing or liability in Taylor’s death.
“The court is aware that this case was highly contested,” Davis’ attorney, Arelia Langhorne, said. “That has been one of the most challenging cases in my 32-year career.”
Langhorne and Carlene Johnson, the attorney representing the deputies involved in the arrest, both agreed the settlement is fair.
Judge Norman Moon agreed Thursday and accepted the settlement terms drawn on Aug. 22.
The settlement money is paid through the Virginia Office of Risk Management, which insures police officers against this type of action, said County Manager Rodney Taylor.
Sanchez Taylor, 28, died on June 16, 2005, after a run-in with Amherst County deputies.
After Taylor’s car was found abandoned in a northbound lane of U.S. 29, deputies responded to a call of a break-in at nearby Bethel Welding.
Deputies Debbie Tinnell and Darren Givens found Taylor at the back of the welding shop and tried to arrest him, according to statements filed with the court.
In those statements, deputies claim Taylor refused to follow their orders to get on the ground and that they had to handcuff him while he was lying on a ladder behind the shop. They tried to move him but could only get a few feet away to some ornamental racks.
Two more deputies, Brian Drewry and Kelly Dodson, arrived and helped control Taylor, who was still fighting.
Unable to get him under control, officers put him on the ground but later noticed he was having trouble breathing and was having a seizure.
He died a few hours later at Lynchburg General Hospital.
Davis contended in the lawsuit that deputies held her son down on the ladder and racks, suffocating him.
Medical experts hired by the sheriff’s office claimed Taylor’s death was an accident, brought on by cocaine abuse, heart disease and mental illness in a condition known as “excited delirium.” Taylor had been acquitted by reason of insanity in a 1997 Richmond homicide and committed to a state mental hospital, according to court records.
The state medical examiner in Roanoke ruled Taylor’s death a homicide, disputing claims of excited delirium because bruises were found in Taylor’s deep abdominal tissues. The medical examiner’s office said that indicated he was restrained in a way that could have cut off his ability to breathe.
The four deputies cited in the federal lawsuit were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in state court Aug. 14.
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