Lawyers for family of woman killed in police chase urge City Council to OK $27 million settlement

On the eve of a Chicago City council vote, lawyers for the family of a woman who died as a result of a high speed police chase are working to salvage a settlement deal worth millions more than originally awarded.

The Council’s Finance Committee will be asked to authorize a $27 million settlement Friday with the family of Stacy Vaughn-Harrell. The family’s lawyers on Thursday urged Council members to give the OK, arguing there's new evidence that would cause the price to balloon if the case were tried again.

The 42-year-old woman and her daughter, Kimberlyn Myers, then 21, were driving home in June 2017 when they were hit by a car that was fleeing police at roughly 50 mph through a residential area in Englewood.

“My mom was a law-abiding citizen,” Myers said at a press conference Thursday.

“My mom was a giver. My mom would do anything for anyone, and I wouldn't wish this on anyone," she added. "My mom would have been here if you guys would have doneit (the chase) correctly, but you guys did it your own way, and now here it is. We have to suffer.”

Three years ago, the family was awarded $10 million at trial after Myers and Vaughn-Harrell’s husband, Henry Harrell, sued the city and the Chicago Police Department.

Then the city appealed and the appellate court ordered a new trial based on a series of legal violations.

But in preparing for the latest trial, substantial new evidence came to light. So the law department offered a $27 million settlement — “in the best interest” of Chicago taxpayers.

“It’s a huge backfire,” the family’s lawyer, Lance Northcutt said Thursday.

Video shared with media Thursday shows the officer who was driving approached Vaughn-Harrell’s sedan while saying over the radio: “Yeah they just took off. We weren’t even chasing them.” The clip is almost a minute long and at no point does an officer attempt to help Vaughn-Harrell or her daughter inside the car.

In another clip, an officer instructs Myers to try and exit the other side of the car. Myers appears to be having a hard time understanding, responding “I need to get out I need to get out.” She then topples out of the car, over her mother, with no assistance from officers.

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) normally helps lead the charge against police-chase settlements on grounds the city is too quick to settle and the bad guys being chased should be should be held responsible.

But after attending the closed-door briefing and hearing about the video that surfaced during the appeal, Lopez said he plans to reluctantly support the $27 million settlement.

“It will be far worse for us financially than if we just settle this matter now. The deck is stacked against us when you have the potential of having six children on the stand in tears missing their mom before a jury. The heartstrings will be pulled so tightly that I can’t imagine us having any way out,” Lopez said Thursday.

“We don’t have the option of going after the owner of the car because they already settled. We don’t have the option of holding the person accountable because non-cooperative witnesses won’t tell us who the driver of this vehicle was.”

Before the chase, police pulled over a white Kia they believed involved in a shooting, though they didn’t know if the shots came from the car, the family’s attorney said at the time. A passenger got out of the car when it was pulled over, then the Kia sped off.

Police chased the Kia in an unmarked car, followed by a marked CPD car, according to the family’s trial court attorney, who contended this violated department policy requiring a marked car to lead a chase and use both lights and sirens.

The Kia ran four stop signs before crashing into Vaughn-Harrell’s car at an intersection.

Vaughn-Harrell was killed. Myers suffered serious injuries, including a concussion, a lacerated liver, and a broken collarbone requiring a plate and five screws. Vaughn-Harrell's six surviving children included three who were teenagers at the time.

Northcutt said the family remains prepared to go to trial if needed. This time around Northcutt plans to bring evidence of a wide “systemic” cover-up.

“We could conceivably be in a trial where the City of Chicago would not be able to defend on liability based on this misconduct, and if that is the case, the only thing a jury would consider is the horror show visited on the Harrell family and the damages they have sustained as a result of this senseless, preventable, tragic death,” Northcutt said.

At trial, Northcutt believes a jury would reach a verdict “far in excess of $100 million.”