Two Families Sue IMPD Over Shooting Deaths Of Two Men In 2023

Source: PHOTO: WISH-TV

INDIANAPOLIS — Two families who say their loved ones were wrongfully killed by IMPD officers last year are filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department.

In October of 2023, Darcel Edwards was shot after climbing into a tree. Edwards had run from police after being pulled over near 25th Street and Columbia Avenue. In November of that same year, Leandre Houston was shot by an IMPD officer. Houston was a passenger in the car driven by Demarcus Whitley and both tried running from the cops after they tried pulling them over.

Attorney Nathaniel Lee said Thursday that Edwards had mental health issues when he encountered the police. He climbed up a tree and IMPD says he was shot when the pursuing officers lost sight of his hands. He did not have a gun on him at the time.

“One of the telltale signs was he said, ‘Call my mama!’,” Lee said. “You’re not going to shoot someone who wants their mom to come to the scene.”

Lee is also frustrated with how IMPD handled the investigation into the shooting claiming that the department had the tree cut down and shredded the same day the shooting happened.

As for Houston, he was shot as police were looking to apprehend Whitley who was wanted on several firearms charges. They captured Whitley, but Houston was shot as he leaped over a fence. IMPD has said that suspects make things more difficult when they run instead of cooperating, but Lee says the two men ran because they fear for their lives due to continued friction between police and the African-American community.

“We must have a standard where you can only shoot a suspect when your life is in danger, or someone else,” Lee said. “That’s got to be the legal standard we adhere to, without that standard no one is safe.”

IMPD is not commenting on the lawsuits.