Fiancée of man killed by St. Paul police reaches $380K settlement

The fiancée of a man killed by St. Paul police more than six years ago has reached a $380,000 settlement in a lawsuit claiming officers unlawfully imprisoned her.

St. Paul city council members agreed to settle the lawsuit Wednesday, paying Markeeta Johnson-Blakney and her lawyer, Paul Bosman, the amount for "any and all" claims, damages and attorney fees. Bosman said the money will help Johnson-Blakney as she continues to struggle with her late partner's death.

"The City agreed to settle Ms. Johnson-Blakney's claim to avoid the costs and uncertainty of continued litigation," City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said in a statement. "The City remains committed to protecting the rights of all persons through respectful service. We look forward to resolving the remaining claims in this case."

Bosman filed the lawsuit against St. Paul in March, claiming that officers violated Johnson-Blakney's civil rights by unlawfully imprisoning her moments after officers fatally shot her partner, Cordale Handy.

Handy was killed March 15, 2017, after officers received multiple 911 calls about a domestic disturbance. They responded to the 700 block of E. 6th Street and learned that Handy fired 16 shots in the couple's apartment before leaving the building with a gun.

Johnson-Blankey's lawsuit claims that officers spoke with her and a neighbor before they left together to find him. Officers found Handy near the intersection of Sinnen and E. 7th streets and ordered him to drop the gun and get on the ground. He went to the ground but officers say he raised his gun twice at them, prompting them to open fire as Johnson-Blankey and her neighbor watched.

Handy was shot seven times and died of his injuries at around 2:27 a.m. Johnson-Blankey's lawsuit says. She was dragged by her arms into a squad car minutes afterward with only a T-shirt and underwear. Officers ignored her requests to go home, speak to family or get clothes, telling her it would be a long night and that she was barred from speaking to anyone.

Bosman watched the squad car recording of Johnson-Blankey's detainment, and said it's some of the hardest footage he's watched in his career.

"It's the most raw depiction of grief that I have seen in my life," Bosman said. "As an African-American woman she has just watched her fiancé, an African American man who wanted her to call the police because he was paranoid about someone else — wanted to call the police for help — watched him be killed wrongfully. And she's now without the ability to communicate, being held in the back of a cop car, and has a doubt in her mind as to whether they could kill her too."

Since the shooting, Bosman said Johnson-Blankey has suffered with her work, mental health and fears of the police. Putting a value on such damage is difficult, but Bosman said, "This is the best that we could do."

Handy's family members were awarded $11.5 million after a Minneapolis jury decided one of the two officers who shot Handy was liable. The family's lawyer also alleged that Handy was hallucinating from a bad dose of ecstasy when he was killed, adding that he fired 16 shots into the couple's couch because he thought someone was hiding in it.

Handy's mother plans to use some of that money for a foundation created in her son's name, providing tombstones to families of victims of police brutality and community violence.