Mother of Detroit man shot by bailiff seeks accountability in $150 million lawsuit

The family of a Detroit man who was shot and killed by a court bailiff during a 2024 eviction is suing for $150 million, alleging the bailiff and two Detroit police officers forced their way into his apartment without waiting for a crisis team that was on the way, the family's attorneys said.

Sherman Lee Butler, 44, was "experiencing a severe mental-health crisis" inside his apartment on Manderson Road in Detroit when he was shot July 12, 2024, the attorneys said. His mother, Velma Wafer, is seeking accountability for his death, they said.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The family and their attorneys announced it Tuesday at a news conference in Detroit. It names the bailiff, the two officers, the City of Detroit and the 36th District Court. It alleges excessive force and other civil rights violations, claims under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and claims under Michigan law.

The attorneys said Detroit police requested a Crisis Intervention Team and a mental health clinician, but the officers and bailiff "proceeded without waiting for them." The bailiff, sent by the 36th District Court, kicked the door until the lock gave way, the attorneys said, and the two officers followed him inside. They found Butler in a bedroom "holding a box cutter to his own neck," the attorneys said.

The lawsuit claims the authorities' commands and use of Tasers "escalated his crisis rather than de-escalating it." The Tasers did not incapacitate Butler, the attorneys said, and he lunged forward. The bailiff then fired multiple shots. Butler was taken to Sinai Grace Hospital, where he died.

Attorney Maurice Davis said the family intends to prove the escalation was preventable. "An eviction order does not erase a person's constitutional rights," Davis said.

In September 2024, activists demanded that Detroit police release bodycam footage of the shooting, which police initially said they were not obligated to release because an officer had not fired. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office reviewed the case and concluded in December 2024 that the bailiff acted in self-defense. Prosecutors said at the time that officers called for a crisis intervention team and told Butler to drop the box cutter, but he refused. Later that month, police released the footage.

CBS Detroit has reached out to the Detroit Police Department for comment on the lawsuit.