Lawsuit claimed pattern of police abuse in dealing with people in mental health crisis
Mark Lambie/El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
June 27, 2023
The city of El Paso will pay a $600,000 settlement to the parents of a man who died after he was shocked with a Taser by a police officer while he had a noose around his neck as he tried to hang himself during a mental health crisis.
The lawsuit filed in 2017 by Maria and Pedro Ramirez was set to go to trial next month in U.S District Court. The lawsuit claimed the death of their 30-year-old son, Daniel Antonio Ramirez, was part of a larger pattern in the El Paso Police Department, including a lack of training, failure to discipline officers for excessive force and abuses against people in a mental health crisis.
Daniel Ramirez, who had a history of mental health issues, was shocked with a Taser while attempting to hang himself from a basketball net in the backyard when his mother called 911 for help on June 23, 2015.
“I visit my son’s grave every day. On this Friday (June 23), it will be eight years since he was killed. My grief is the same," Pedro Ramirez said in a statement issued by the family's lawyers, Lynn Coyle and Christopher Benoit.
"We called the police to help my son, instead the officer killed him. I still don’t understand why. I also don’t understand why the department covered for this officer rather than hold him accountable," Ramirez said.
The settlement was approved by the City Council.
El Paso City Attorney Karla Nieman said in a statement that it was in "everyone’s best interest to settle the case to allow those involved the opportunity to move forward and begin to heal."
"The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the City, its Police Department, nor Officer (Ruben) Escajeda (Jr.) ‒ who was dismissed from the lawsuit by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found no wrongdoing by the officer," Nieman said. "While we believe the City could prevail at trial, the settlement represented a financial consideration made in the best interests of the taxpayers and community."
A suicide call, a Taser and a man's death
Responding to the suicide in progress call with other officers, Escajeda went into the backyard alone and fired his Taser electric-stun weapon as Daniel Ramirez was grabbing the rope around his neck and touching the ground with his tiptoes trying to stay alive, the lawsuit stated.
The shock of 50,000 volts caused Ramirez to go limp, adding tension to the rope. Escajeda removed Daniel Ramirez from the noose and officers at the scene unsuccessfully performed CPR. Daniel Ramirez was then transported to Del Sol Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit claimed that Daniel Ramirez was not armed and did not threaten Escajeda. Dispatcher radio records mentioned a rope – not a weapon – at least three times, the family's lawyers added.
The Ramirez family's lawyers said that then-police Chief Greg Allen found Escajeda acted according to department policy and Escajeda was not disciplined for the incident. Allen died earlier this year.
El Paso Police Department makes changes, but lawyers say more is needed
The goal of Ramirez's parents in filing the lawsuit was to bring to light concerns in police training, practices and policies and "prevent other families from suffering the way they have," Coyle said.
Coyle also was one of the lawyers for the family of 22-year-old Erik Emmanuel Salas Sanchez, who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer in 2015. A trial jury acquitted the officer of a manslaughter charge in 2019. The Salas Sanchez lawsuit was settled for $1.2 million last year.
In 2020, the deaths of both men, among others, were the focus of demonstrations by the Border Network for Human Rights and other community groups unsuccessfully calling for Allen's resignation during the nationwide George Floyd protests.
In a statement, the city of El Paso said that the Police Department continues to make improvements over the past decade, including updated training and use-of-force policies, the addition of body-worn cameras, new ways to recruit civilian members of the Discipline Review Board and the formation of the specialized Crisis Intervention Team to deal with mental health emergencies.
"The Ramirez family’s bravery to file this suit directly impacted how the El Paso Police Department operates," Benoit said in a statement, adding that more still needs to be done.
"However, the city still has a long way to correct the department’s deficiencies – particularly when it comes to response to calls involving mental health crises," he said.