Mother of son killed sues City of Carmel, Police Chief
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. (KION-TV) - A mother of a son killed last fall is suing the City of Carmel and Police Chief Paul Tomasi, among others.
According to a civil lawsuit with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, Ellen Barrett is suing for wrongful death and excessive force. Also mentioned in the suit are Sergeant Gerald Maldonado, Officer Rene Guevara, and ten other unnamed individuals.
Barrett claims in the suit that the City used "unjustifiably used force" when handling a mental health incident with her son, James Marshall.
Body cam footage of the incident was released back on October 25, showing moments up close when Chief Tomasi, Sgt. Maldonado and Officer Guevara were at the home of Marshall.
The Monterey County District Office reported that Marshall had charged at Sgt. Maldonado with a crowbar. At the time, Officer Guevara fired five shots from his service pistol. No other lethal rounds were fired outside of that moment, with the use of non-lethal bean bag rounds being used prior.
The Law Office of Dale K. Galipo filed the complaint. KION has reached out to the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea for further comments, but has not heard anything back at this time of reporting.