(CN) — The widow of a police cadet who died during training asked a Fifth Circuit panel Thursday to reverse a federal court’s dismissal of her civil rights lawsuit over her husband’s death.
Brittney Kennedy says her husband, Marquis Kennedy, died in September 2022 while training at the Arlington, Texas, police academy after he participated in what was informally known as a “fight for your life” training simulation, where he was required to spar with training officers.
“They’re sitting on his chest for 16 minutes. They’re sitting on his stomach and his chest, and they’re laying on top of him. It’s akin to being in a prone restraint in terms of oxygen deprivation,” Shelby White, an attorney representing Kennedy, told the panel when describing what occurred during the simulation…