Woman seeks $25 million in police shooting death of son

The mother of a 19-year-old man who was fatally shot by Inglewood police officers who mistakenly believed gunfire was coming from the vehicle he was riding in filed a claim seeking $25 million in damages from the city, the family’s attorney said Monday.

It was filed on behalf of Michael Byoune, who died from his wounds, along with driver Larry White, 19, and passenger, Chris Larkin, 21, both of whom were injured in the May 11 shooting outside a Rally’s restaurant, said attorney Carl Douglas. He is representing Byoune’s mother, Jackie Roberts, as well as White and Larkin.

No guns were found in the car and no arrests were made in the case. Police said there was no evidence linking the three men to the initial gunfire, which witnesses said came from an unidentified gunman.

The men were “law abiding customers of the hamburger stand” who were trying to flee the area for their own safety after they heard shots fired, Douglas wrote in the claim. “None of the young men did anything to justify this use of deadly force against them.”

White had a 12-inch rod inserted in his left leg because of his injuries, and Larkin suffered bullet graze wounds to the side of his face and buttocks, Douglas said. The claim seeks $10 million each for Roberts and White and $5 million for Larkin.

Inglewood police spokeswoman Gabriela Garcia said the department does not comment on pending lawsuits. The city has 45 days to respond to the claim, after which time the claimants have a right to sue the city within six months.

In an earlier news conference, Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said that the shooting was prompted by the actions of an unknown gunman and resulted in a “very tragic outcome.”

The claim alleges that Officers Brian Ragan and Roman Fernandez fired at the three men because they were African American and that the actions were “part of the custom, habit and practice of members of the Inglewood Police Department.”

Ragan, a 5 1/2 -year veteran of the department, and Fernandez, who had been with the department less than a year, were put on paid leave last month but are back on duty, Garcia said. An internal investigation is ongoing, she said.

Douglas said the use of deadly force by the officers could not be justified because they had fired through the front windshield of their patrol car, indicating they were not under imminent threat to their lives.

“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my Michael,” Roberts said in a prepared statement.

Paul Edwards, Byoune’s cousin, said no amount of money could alleviate the pain the incident has caused his family, but it would help “ease the stress of daily life” for Byoune’s mother.

“When cities are forced to pay,” Edwards said, “they are forced to pay attention.”

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victoria.kim@latimes.com

Times staff writer Ari Bloomekatz contributed to this report.