Lawsuit alleges shooting by North Aurora officer was unjustified
Surrounded by police and holding a gun to his head, Jesus Ocasio acted like a man wanting to end his own life the night of Aug. 21, 2019.
A North Aurora police officer shot and killed him instead, and now Ocasio's family members are suing the officer and the village for what they say was excessive force and a wrongful death.
The suit, filed late last month in federal court in Chicago, seeks more than $1 million in damages for the survivors of Ocasio, a 54-year-old North Aurora husband and father.
In March, Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon determined the officer who shot Ocasio acted properly and criminal charges wouldn't be filed. In a six-page letter to North Aurora Police Chief David Fisher outlining his decision, McMahon wrote that the shooting was "necessary and justified to prevent Mr. Ocasio from causing imminent deadly harm" to officers and people inside his home.
The family's lawsuit disputes little of McMahon's version of events - only his conclusions.
The facts
Court documents and McMahon's letter portray Ocasio as despondent, suicidal and possibly a threat to others in the hours before his death last summer. According to the lawsuit, police were called late that night by a family member reporting that Ocasio was missing. McMahon's account adds that Ocasio had made suicidal statements and was threatening to shoot another person, sending the man a text that night telling him he needed to watch his back.
About 15 minutes after the initial call, a North Aurora officer on patrol spotted Ocasio driving and tried to pull him over.
Ocasio refused to stop and drove home instead, documents state.
Once home, Ocasio pulled into the driveway and sat in his SUV holding a handgun against his head.
The police officers repeatedly instructed him to put down the gun, telling him, "We can help you," "Jesus, you are not in trouble," and, "Think of your daughter," according to the lawsuit.
Police dashboard video then shows Ocasio getting out of the SUV with the gun still against his head and taking a few steps toward an open garage while ignoring police commands to drop the weapon.
"I don't want to drop the gun," he replies.
Moments later, Ocasio stops, turns back toward police and is shot dead.
Shooting with no warning or cause?
While McMahon determined the shooting to be a necessary use of force, the lawsuit labels it a "deliberate and malicious deprivation of (Ocasio's) constitutional rights." The suit says Ocasio made no sudden moves and was not a threat to any officer, bystander or person in his home when he was gunned down.
The officer "fired his gun at Jesus Ocasio within seconds and without provocation from Jesus Ocasio, and without cause," the suit states.
Ocasio family attorney Kelly Q. Bennett told us Thursday there is an important difference between the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard prosecutors would need to prove guilt in a criminal courtroom and the "preponderance of the evidence" standard he'll have to prove in a civil case.
"In this case, the force used was not justified," Bennett said.
Appeal denied in Aurora murder case
A state appeals court has upheld the murder conviction and 60-year prison sentence of an Aurora man found guilty of fatally shooting his former girlfriend as the couple's two children sat in a car parked nearby.
In the unanimous decision, appellate justices rejected Christopher Whetstone's arguments he didn't receive a fair trial in 2017. Those arguments ranged from claims of potential racial bias among jurors to prosecutorial misconduct.
A Kane County jury convicted Whetstone, 52, of first-degree murder in the January 2014 slaying of 22-year-old Rachel Taylor. Authorities said Taylor had brought the couple's two children to Whetstone's Aurora home for a visit when an argument erupted and Whetstone shot her in the abdomen and chest.
In his appeal, Whetstone argued that the jurors who heard his case weren't fully questioned about racial bias before the trial began; that police were allowed to testify about prior contacts with Whetstone; and that a prosecutor engaged in "childish behavior" during the defense's closing arguments, such as laughing, throwing back his head, and rolling his eyes.
The appellate court condemned that behavior, calling it "totally improper," but said there's no evidence it, or any of Whetstone's other claims, prevented him from receiving a fair trial. Instead, the court ruled, the evidence against Whetstone was overwhelming.
"Here, defendant's appellate arguments are not unreasonable, but most of them are not error, and none amounts to reversible error," Justice Ann B. Jorgensen wrote. "The record does not reflect any unfair prejudice to defendant's case."
State records show Whetstone is serving his sentence at the medium-security Lawrence Correction Center in downstate Sumner. He's not eligible for parole until January 2074.
Coloring with the cops
Arlington Heights police plan to give out face masks at community events this fall, and they're looking for local youth artists to design them.
Winners of the department's "Protect With Police" contest will see their artwork printed on cloth masks officers will distribute later this year. Age categories are prekindergarten-fourth grade and fifth-eighth grade.
Participants may use crayons, watercolors, pen and ink or markers to complete the drawing, and winners will be selected based on their creativity and originality. Submissions are due Sept. 15 and may be scanned and emailed to aovington@vah.com, or dropped off at BerryYo, 50 N. Vail Ave., or the front desk of the police department, 200 E. Sigwalt St.
Copies of "Protect With Police" coloring contest sheets are available online at www.ahpd.org and www.vah.com. Winners will be announced at 4 p.m. Oct. 23, during a party hosted by BerryYo, which is co-sponsoring the contest with Matrix Home Solutions - Arlington Heights.
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