INDIANAPOLIS--The mother of a former Indiana University football player has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Debra Cooper — the mother of Chris Beaty — claims that leaders in Indianapolis violated Beaty’s 14th amendment rights by neither protecting him nor the general public by failing to provide adequate training to police officers. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana.
The suit names both IMPD Chief Randall Taylor and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Beaty was shot and killed while trying to help someone from being robbed on May 30, 2020. There were protests that later turned into riots that day across Indianapolis. Those were sparked by anger over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis back in 2020.
The suit says IMPD “failed to properly train its officers in the proper procedures to implement an IAP which would help maintain order and preserve the peace.” IAP stands for Incident Action Plan. The lawsuit asserts that city leaders were responsible for implementing an IAP in response to the riots.
The lawsuit demands that Cooper be awarded damages for “the loss of Christopher Beaty, Beaty’s loss of services, loss of love and affection, emotional support, funeral and burial expenses, and incidental expenses associated with the cost of the administration of the Estate of Christopher Beaty” as well as attorney’s fees and costs of suit and any other relief as the court deems fit.
Marcus Anderson, Alijah Jones, and Nekeyah Shields have been criminally charged for Beaty’s death. Anderson is scheduled to be tried in front of a jury next month.
Both IMPD and the City of Indianapolis say they do not comment on pending litigation.
Beaty played offensive line at Indiana from 2000 to 2004. He also played for three state championship-winning teams at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. Beaty had managed several nightclubs in the city and opened his own events promotion company, Fresh Marketing LLC, in 2011.
