The mother of a man shot and killed by Charlotte police died before she could go in front of a jury and tell them about the night her call for help ended with four officers firing 25 shots at her son.
Demetrics McGill died of stage-four lung cancer — a surprise to the 57-year-old and her family — less than three months before the lawsuit she and her two living sons filed was set for trial. The lawsuit came after officers “failed to de-escalate the situation” and negligently killed Sanrico McGill the week before Christmas in 2023, the family contends.
Sanrico McGill — known by friends and family as Rico or Freak — was a 34-year-old man with bipolar schizophrenia and psychosis. A three-part Charlotte Observer investigation found that his death was shrouded in police secrecy and sat at the intersection of gun access and a faulty mental health system…