Chicago City Council to weigh $27 million settlement in fatal crash during high-speed police chase

City attorneys are recommending a $27 million settlement with the family of an innocent woman who was killed in a crash during a high-speed Chicago police chase, more than double the amount a jury awarded to the family before the city appealed that ruling.

On Friday, the City Council Finance Committee will consider the proposed settlement with the family of Stacy Vaughn-Harrell, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city's insurance company to pay $7 million. If approved by the committee, the settlement could get a final vote by the full City Council on March 18.

Vaughn-Harrell and her daughter, Kimberlyn Myers, were driving near 59th and LaSalle streets in Englewood on June 24, 2017, when a white Kia Sorrento ran a stop sign and crashed into them, according to court records. Vaugn-Harrell was killed in the crash, and Myers suffered a broken clavicle and lacerated liver.

Police had been chasing the Sorrento after officers heard gunshots several blocks away, and saw the Sorrento pulling out of an alley where the shots were heard. Believing the Kia was involved in the shooting, Officers Shawn Susnis and Megan Ryan, responded to a stop already in progress and approached the car with their guns drawn as another officer pulled a passenger out of the back seat of the car.

That's when the driver sped off, and Susnis and Ryan got in their unmarked squad car and chased the Kia, reaching speeds upwards of 60 mph and running multiple stop signs before the crash. The driver and a front-seat passenger in the Kia ran off after the crash, but police recovered a gun from the car.

Vaughn-Harrell's family sued the city over the crash, accusing officers of violating multiple Chicago Police Department policies, including failing to activate their squad car's lights and siren, and leading the chase with an unmarked vehicle. CPD policy requires vehicle pursuits to be conducted by marked squad cars with their lights and sirens activated.

In May 2023, a jury awarded Vaughn-Harrell's family more than $10.1 million in damages – approximately $5 million for her death, and $5 million for Myers' injuries.

Lawyers for the city later appealed that verdict, arguing the trial judge made several mistakes that deprived the city of a fair trial. The judge agreed to order a new trial, and last August an Illinois appeals court panel upheld the ruling for a new trial.

John Hendricks, managing deputy corporation counsel of litigation for the city's Law Department, said that since that ruling, "new factual allegations have come to light that required substantial reevaluation," resulting in the recommendation for a $27 million settlement – more than 2 ½ times the amount previously awarded by a jury.

"City lawyers have a duty to regularly reassess the value of cases based on the current posture of the lawsuit. Given the substantial new evidence that would be presented at trial, the Department of Law believes the recommended settlement is in the best interest of the taxpayers," Hendricks said in a statement.

Last month, the Finance Committee rejected an $8.25 million settlement in another high-speed police chase that killed an innocent woman in the Little Village neighborhood.

The 18-15 vote means the lawsuit filed by the family of Dominga Flores Gomez will now go to trial.

Gomez was killed in a crash at the intersection of 31st and Kedzie on Sept. 28, 2022, as police were chasing a group of carjacking suspects. That chase spanned 11 miles and reached speeds of up to 95 mph, with the officer chasing the car running 20 red lights and several stop signs. The officer involved in the chase also had been suspended three times before that crash for violating CPD policies during vehicle pursuits.

Finance Committee members argued that officers were justified in pursuing the car that killed Gomez and that Chicago taxpayers should not be liable for paying damages to her family.