A City Council committee on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to the family of a mother of six killed in a high-speed police chase — nearly triple the amount awarded by a jury — amid warnings that new evidence in the case exposed taxpayers to a settlement “well over $100 million.”
The settlement authorized by the Finance Committee is poised for full Council approval next week, and would go to the family of Stacy Vaughn-Harrell.
The 47-year-old woman and her then 21-year-old daughter, Kimberlyn Myers, were driving home in June 2017 — after Myers sang at a performance in Indiana — when they were hit by a car that was fleeing police through a residential area in Englewood at a speed of roughly 50 mph.
Vaughn-Harrell was killed, and Myers suffered serious injuries, including a concussion, a lacerated liver, and a broken collarbone requiring a plate and five screws. Vaughn-Harrell left behind six children, three of whom were teenagers.
Before the chase, police had pulled over a white Kia they believed was present during a shooting, though they didn’t know if the shots came from the car, the family’s attorney said at the time. A passenger got out of the car when it was pulled over, then the Kia sped off.
Police chased the Kia in an unmarked car, with a marked car following, according to the family’s trial court attorney, who contended this violated department policy requiring a marked car to lead a chase using both lights and sirens.
The Kia had run through four stop signs before crashing into Vaughn-Harrell’s car at an intersection.
Three years ago, a jury awarded $10 million to the victim’s family.
On Friday, Deputy Corporation Counsel Margaret Mendenhall-Casey cited six reasons to explain why an appellate court’s decision to order a new trial based on an improper closing argument and other legal violations turned into a proposed $27 million settlement, all but $7 million shouldered by Chicago taxpayers.
Chief among them is a post-crash video that the “first jury did not see,” and the new trial judge has “already hinted he is inclined” to allow in a second trial, she said.
Lawyers for Vaughn-Harrell’s family likely would use that video “ to argue that our officers were callous,” Mendenhall-Casey said. “Video of Kimberlyn crawling over her mother’s dead body and falling to the ground while officers stood by and watched, the plaintiff will argue.”
Other factors that strengthen the family’s case include: likely testimony from all six of the victim’s children, only two of whom testified at the first trial; more detail about Myers’ traumatic brain injury as well as testimony from her and her doctors; and the fact that the six surviving children lost not only their mother but their home-schooling teacher.
A second jury would also be permitted to hear more criticism of the police officers involved in the pursuit that was not allowed during the first trial, Mendenhall-Casey said. And a grieving family that did not seek compensation for pain and suffering would now likely seek those funds.
“As you can see, a second trial would have a substantially different and larger case presented to it on damages,” Mendenhall-Casey told the Finance Committee. “If this matter proceeds to a second trial, the plaintiff will ask the jury to award well over $100 million dollars.”
The City Council recently rejected an $8.25 million settlement in another deadly police pursuit case. But the city’s managing deputy of litigation, John Hendricks, advised alderpersons not to roll the dice on this case.
“ We have a different case with new evidence. We have a different case with new witnesses. We have a different case with new and broader claims for damages. And we have a likelihood of more evidence coming in that was not allowed at the first trial based on judicial findings,” Hendricks said.
Citing a 2024 police pursuit case with a similar set of facts that culminated in a $79 million settlement, Hendricks said, “We have a new set of facts similar to set of facts that resulted in what people sometimes refer to as a nuclear verdict.”
During the public comment period that preceded Friday’s hearing, the Finance Committee heard tearful testimony from Myers.
“I am the individual who crawled out of that car. Who was not assisted by no officer. I did not see one hand reach out for me,” Myers said. “Every day there is pain that we all go through. Today is just as hard as it was on June 24, [2017].”