LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The 2016 shooting death of a suicidal teen in Benton led to a $32 million jury award for the family on Monday.
The jury found the city liable for not properly training officers or investigating the shooting death of 17-year-old Keagan Schweikle. For the two charges, the jury fined the city $15 million each at the end of the six-day trial.
Piper Partridge and Dominic Schweikle, the parents of Keagan Schweikle, originally filed the suit in July 2017.
Parents of Teen Who Died in Police Shooting File Lawsuit Against City of Benton
The training charge was based on the department not having properly trained officers for dealing with a mental health crisis, which Keagan Schweikle is alleged to have been going through on Oct. 17, 2016. During the incident, the teen was holding a gun to his head while threatening suicide.
Benton Chief of Police Kirk Lane was also found liable for not properly training officers or investigating the shooting, resulting in two additional $1 million awards to the plaintiffs for a total of $32 million.