Wrongful Death Lawsuit Announced for Death Keenan Anderson
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump (left) and Carl Douglas (right) in Los Angeles Jun. 19, 2023, discussing the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit in the Jan. 3, 2023, death of Keenan Anderson. (G Nowlin Photo)
On Juneteenth, June 19, in Los Angeles, civil rights attorneys Carl Douglas (Douglas Hicks Law) and Ben Crump (Ben Crump Law) announced they had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of Syncere Kai Anderson, the 5-year-old son of Keenan Anderson.
31-year-old Anderson died on Jan. 3, 2023, following a traffic collision where he was chased, held down by multiple Los Angeles police officers, and tased for over 90 seconds as he begged for help. Paramedics arrived within a minute of being called and, five minutes later, transported Anderson, who was a high school teacher, to a local hospital, where he died four hours later. Anderson’s death was one of three fatalities stemming from the LAPD’s use of force in the first few days of the new year.
“I’m just here to get justice on behalf of Keenan and my son,” said Gabrielle Hansell, the mother of Anderson’s 5-year-old son Syncere Kai Anderson.”
Civil rights attorneys Jamon Hicks, Ben Crump, and Carl Douglas stand with Gabrielle Hansell, the mother of Keenan Anderson’s 5-year-old son Syncere Kai Anderson, in Los Angeles on Jun. 19, 2023, discussing the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit in the Jan. 3, death of Anderson. (G Nowlin Photo)
“Regrettably, we have chosen this day, Juneteeth, to notice the filing of his lawsuit,” added a somber Douglas. “Forty-three years I’ve been involved in representing families just like Ms. Gabrielle Hansel. I look forward to the day when I am not standing before you talking about another tragic death of an unarmed African American man.”
Douglas continued, “A high school teacher trying to make a better life for young Black and brown boys in Washington DC. He was here only for a break to settle some personal affairs. And clearly, he did nothing to justify being tased more than six times with 50,000 watts of electrical energy coursing through his body.”
Crump told reporters, “Juneteenth represents the fact that Black people were promised the American promise of all of our constitutional rights, against brutality, against excessive force, against wrongful death. But here we are, in the 21st century, still fighting and to remind America that we are free and just because we’re having a moment of crisis that should not be the determining factor for a police officer to kill us wrongfully. So on behalf of Syncere and his family, we have found a $100 million lawsuit against the law enforcement officials who caused this wrongful death. Nobody–nobody can say this was not excessive.
“What killed him was an overdose of excessive force,” Crump concluded. “It’s that simple.”
Before you can sue the government or a public agency, you must first file a Claim For Damages. If the claim is denied, a person can then move forward with a lawsuit. The claim submitted for Anderson’s death was denied.
