Family receives $4 million settlement in prison death of Phoenix man in 2021

PHOENIX (AP) — Nearly four years after a man died while being held in a Phoenix jail cell, his family will receive a $4 million settlement, county officials have decided.

In their federal civil rights lawsuit, the family of 31-year-old Akeem Terrell argued that police used unreasonable force during his arrest nearly four years ago and that he was suffering from a mental health crisis while what law enforcement officers were trying to subdue him.

The lawsuit said Terrell was taken into custody after he refused to leave a New Year’s Eve party in 2021 after suffering a psychotic episode.

As many as seven Phoenix police officers were on top of Terrell in an isolation cell at the jail, holding him down as they changed his handcuffs, according to the lawsuit.

Terrell’s family said body camera footage showed the officers walking out of the cell, leaving him motionless and face down on the cell floor.

The lawsuit also alleged that police delayed getting medical attention for the 6-foot-2-inch, 433-pound Terrell.

He was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to Jesse Showalter, the attorney for Terrell’s family.

Terrell had a history of mental illness and was “expressing paranoid thoughts” before his arrest, according to the lawsuit.

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