INDIANAPOLIS — A court filing shows a lawsuit filed by the mom of a man shot and killed by IMPD Officers in 2020 has been resolved.
Demetree Wynn, the mother of 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed, sued the City of Indianapolis, IMPD Police Chief Randal Taylor, Deputy Police Chief Kendale Adams and Officer DeJoure Mercer in June 2020 in connection with the shooting.
Online court documents show both parties did not achieve a settlement on Jan. 27, but a resolution was reached on Jan. 31.
A release and settlement agreement provided by IMPD to WRTV states the defendants must pay $390,000. Each party will pay its own costs, expenses and legal fees.
"Plaintiff acknowledges that this Agreement represents a compromise and settlement of disputed claims, and that Defendants deny any liability all on claims asserted. This Agreement should not be construed as an admission of any liability or wrongdoing," the agreement, dated Feb. 4, reads.
As part of the agreement, the claims are dismissed with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff cannot refile the same claim again in that court.
An IMPD spokesperson tells WRTV the department has no additional comment beyond the settlement agreement.
Last April, parts of the lawsuit were denied as moot while the judge allowed other parts to move forward.
Reed was shot following a police pursuit on May 6, 2020, on Indianapolis' north side. Reed was streaming live on Facebook as he led police on the chase. The stream continued when Reed exited his vehicle near 62nd Street and Michigan Road.
IMPD says Reed tried to run and the responding officer, later identified as Mercer, deployed a taser, striking him. IMPD reports allege that after being struck with the taser, Reed fired a gun and Mercer returned fire, striking him multiple times. A weapon was found lying next to Reed’s body after the shooting.
The family's and IMPD's accounts of the events that day have differed.
The Reed family legal team claims surveillance video that shows Reed running from a car with what appears to be a white T-shirt in one hand and two cell phones in his other hand — is evidence that he was not holding a gun at the time.
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A special prosecutor, Rosemary Khoury, was appointed to investigate the deadly shooting. Then, in late 2020, a grand jury declined to indict Mercer.
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