Family of Shayne Sutherland, who died in Stockton police custody, reaches $6 million settlement city
STOCKTON — The mother of a man who died while in the custody of Stockton police is calling on law enforcement to prevent similar deaths.
The Stockton City Council recently approved a $6 million settlement with the family of Shayne Sutherland. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Stockton Police Department back in October 2021.
Attorneys for the family say Sutherland died back in 2020 while suffering a mental health crisis and being held down by police. In November 2020, the department released bodycam footage of the moments leading up to Sutherland's death.
The family attorneys say officers applied pressure with their bodies and batons for eight minutes, causing Sutherland's death.
"Shayne was not fighting them. He was no threat," Shayne's mother Karen Sutherland told CBS 13. "And they failed to sit him up or put him on his side, and my son died by positional asphyxiation."
Shayne Sutherland was a father. He died 10 days shy of his 30th birthday.