Baltimore County, two police officers face wrongful death lawsuit in 2019 killing of man in Hunt Valley

A representative of the estate of Jamaal Taylor, a man who was shot and killed by Baltimore County police during an incident outside a store in Hunt Valley in 2019, has filed a lawsuit against the county and two of its police officers.

The five-count lawsuit — which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court — alleges wrongful death, among other claims. The filing says the officers violated Taylor’s constitutional rights “to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure of his person,” and used excessive force against him.

An attorney for the Taylor estate alleges Officer Wise and Officer Brocato, whose full names were not listed, did not attempt to de-escalate the situation or alert the department’s mobile crisis response teams before opening fire on Taylor, whom prosecutors said either stabbed or injured five people.

The lawsuit further alleges that Taylor’s death is part of a “dangerous pattern” within the county police department of using deadly force against people experiencing mental health crises, and argues the department has failed to train enough officers in crisis intervention.

County spokeswoman Erica Palmisano said the county “cannot comment on pending litigation.” The officers “have not requested legal representation to our knowledge,” she added.

Wise and Brocato found Taylor outside Hunt Valley Wine, Liquor & Beer on Shawan Road on Sept. 28, 2019, in response to multiple 911 calls, according to the lawsuit.

Both officers were familiar with Taylor, and were aware he had mental illnesses, the lawsuit alleges. That was also mentioned in several 911 calls, and his “mental condition and irrationality” were “immediately apparent” when officers were on the scene, according to the lawsuit.

At the time, Taylor was standing in the street, walking away from the officers. Although he was believed to have a knife, he was far enough away that he posed no threat to their safety, the lawsuit asserts.

The lawsuit alleges police did not attempt to summon the county mobile response unit, nor contact officers with crisis intervention training for help, despite a county police order that indicates officers should request crisis intervention assistance “when encountering individuals exhibiting signs of mental illness,” the lawsuit alleges.

Both officers had less lethal weapons such as Tasers or pepper spray, but did not use them, the lawsuit stated. Instead, they opened fire on Taylor “immediately upon arriving,” the complaint alleges, and shot multiple rounds. Taylor was fatally injured, the lawsuit asserts.

Robin Coffin, county deputy state’s attorney, stated in a letter that the office had reviewed the incident and found that “force was justified for the protection of lives.” It would not pursue the case further, Coffin wrote.

Taylor “was out of control and randomly stabbing people at the Hunt Valley Towne Center,” the letter stated.

The letter stated that when officers arrived, they attempted “to box Taylor in while he walked on Shawan Road,” and keep him away from other people, and that officers repeatedly asked Taylor to drop his knife, but he ignored them and “continued walking toward populated areas.”

“Once the Officers Wise and Brocato realized that Taylor was not going to drop his knife, and he represented a grave risk to all of those around him, the Officer[s] resorted to deadly force,” it stated.

The lawsuit alleges there is a larger pattern within the county police department of using excessive force against people experiencing mental health crises, which can be dated back to at least 2006. It also alleges that the police department has repeatedly failed to properly discipline the officers involved in those incidents, including Wise and Brocato.

County police have a practice of withholding the first names of officers who use force against someone during an emergency response.

The lawsuit is “an important effort to maintain police accountability, in regards to that matter particularly when dealing with mental health issues, and people that present themselves to be in mental health distress,” James Sweeting III, who represents the plaintiffs, said in an interview. “We strongly believe that the matter could have been de-escalated, and it had the procedures and polices to do so, they just didn’t employ them, so they don’t have a commitment to do so.”

Baltimore County police have faced numerous other civil lawsuits alleging police caused the wrongful death of someone experiencing a mental health crisis; last year alone, the county paid at least $11.5 million to settle multiple cases.

In 2021, the county agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Eric Sopp, a 48-year-old unarmed man fatally shot multiple times in his car on Interstate 83 by Officer Gregory Page after Sopp’s mother called 911 to report her son may be suicidal. Page is listed as an officer first class in county salary records, and earns over $107,500.

Attorneys for Sopp’s family alleged there is “a dangerous pattern and practice” of county police mishandling calls involving people in the midst of mental health crises and those with mental health disabilities.

That same year, the county paid $3 million to the family of Korryn Gaines, who in 2016 was fatally shot by police in her Randallstown apartment, where she had barricaded herself inside with her then-5-year-old son when police arrived to serve her a traffic warrant. Gaines’ family testified that she had undiagnosed mental illness.

The county also agreed last year to pay $2.5 million to settle another lawsuit after the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Spencer McCain, who was unarmed, in his Owings Mills home in 2015.

The lawsuit related to Taylor’s fatal shooting alleges that the county 911 dispatcher who received the calls did not alert the Baltimore County crisis response unit or direct officers with crisis intervention training to help. Neither Officer Wise nor Officer Brocato had been trained, according to the lawsuit, which further alleges the police department had failed to train enough of its police officers at the time.

Calls involving people with known or suspected behavioral health issues are meant to be directed to Baltimore County mobile crisis teams, a unit of clinicians and armed, plainclothes officers who respond to calls involving domestic conflict, substance abuse and individuals who might be a danger to themselves or others.

But in 2021, police data revealed teams were unable to respond to 57% of calls. Because few clinicians were available, those calls were instead directed to patrol officers.

Last year, the county announced a one-year pilot program to expand the teams and add additional staff. Baltimore County police spokesman Trae Corbin said the program went into effect in February.

The Affiliated Santé Group, whose clinicians and supervisors staff the crisis teams, said they’ve hired more full and part-time employees as part of the expansion, but the pilot program also increased the workload of existing clinicians. Baltimore County has said the difficulty in hiring clinicians hindered the program.

The lawsuit filed by the representative of Taylor’s estate requested a jury trial and different types of damages, including compensatory and punitive.

cadence.quaranta@thebaltimorebanner.com

taylor.deville@thebaltimorebanner.com

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