Judge selected in civil trial over Chicago police shooting that killed Adam Toledo
A trial judge has been assigned in a lawsuit filed by the family of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who are seeking to hold the city liable after the teen was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in 2021.
The case has been years in the making. Toledo was killed during a foot chase in the Little Village neighborhood in 2021. His mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Officer Eric Stillman in 2022, and on March 29, they marked five years since Toledo's death.
On Monday, after each side requested a change of judge, the case was assigned to Cook County Law Division Presiding Judge Thomas Lyons.
"We look forward to presenting facts and evidence to a jury," Toledo family attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz said.
The family's attorney said she expects the trial to be a lengthy one, with around 90 witnesses called over the course of a few weeks.
"We want justice for Adam Toledo and his family. There's absolutely no reason for his family to go through this pain," said Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, of the Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice.
In a hearing before Judge Lyons on Monday, the attorneys for Toledo's family and the city began going over ground rules for the trial. Additional pre-trial discussions, such as what evidence the jury will hear, will continue on Tuesday.
Jury selection is expected to begin next week, with opening statements scheduled for April 20.
Officer Eric Stillman shot and killed Toledo on March 29, 2021, after a foot chase in an alley near 24th Street and Sawyer Avenue in the Little Village neighborhood, less than a second — to be precise, 838 milliseconds — after Toledo dropped a gun he had been carrying.
Video footage released weeks after the shooting shows Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman standing on a street corner when several shots were fired early on the morning of March 29. Both then ran past a church and into a nearby alley. Body camera footage shows an officer chasing Toledo down the alley, telling the boy to show the officer his hands.
Toledo can then be seen stopping near a gap in the fence in the alley, with both hands at his side, his left shoulder facing the officer. When the video is slowed down, a frame of the footage does appear to show a gun in Toledo's hand just before he raises his arms and the officer opens fire. Surveillance video of the same moment from a different angle appears to show Toledo with his right arm behind the fence, possibly making a throwing motion, and then turning back toward the officer.
However, at the moment when Stillman opened fire, the body camera video shows Toledo had his hands up, and they appeared to be empty.
The shooting prompted protests over police use of force, and calls for police to stop foot pursuits altogether until the department overhauls its chase policies.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in 2022 recommended that Stillman be fired. However, then Chicago Police Supt. David Brown did not agree, but instead recommended that Stillman be suspended for no more than five days.
With COPA and CPD at odds over disciplinary action for Stillman, the Chicago Police Board agreed to hold hearings, but that disciplinary case is on hold as the Illinois Supreme Court decides whether officers facing serious misconduct cases have the right to ask an arbitrator to decide their fate, rather than the Police Board.
In 2022, then-Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx declined to charge Stillman with a crime in Toledo's death.
A Chicago Police Department spokesperson said Stillman is currently inactive, meaning he is not on the streets and not being paid.