John Crawford Family Civil Lawsuit Date is Set

Michael Wright, the Dayton attorney for the family of John Crawford III, the 22-year-old Fairfield man shot in an encounter with police in a store aisle Aug. 5, said they agreed to a Feb. 13, 2017, trial date during a scheduling conference in U.S. District Court.

“It’s a little ways out,” Wright said of the date.

Wright noted that discovery of pertinent information and deposition of witnesses in the case can begin. For the trial date, much depends on the court’s schedule and docket, he said.

The civil lawsuit was filed Dec. 16 in Dayton’s U.S. District Court by Tressa Sherrod and John Crawford Jr., parents of Crawford III.

A Beavercreek police officer shot Crawford III after a Walmart shopper told a 911 dispatcher he was pointing a rifle at other shoppers. Crawford III had been carrying a unpackaged BB-gun that he picked up off a Walmart shelf.

In a response to the suit, attorneys for Beavercreek police Officer Sean Williams — who fired the fatal shots — and Sgt. David Darkow, Chief Dennis Evers and Beavercreek city officials asked U.S. District Judge Walter Rice to dismiss the complaint. Walmart denied that its actions played any role in Crawford III’s death.

Crawford’s parents and Wright have called for a federal civil rights investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has said they are reviewing the case.

Wright expects Carter M. Stewart, the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, to meet with the Crawford family by the end of this month. He thinks a decision on federal charges may be revealed then.