A King County jury has found the City of Seattle negligent and liable for the 2020 death of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr., who was fatally shot in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). The verdict, delivered three-plus weeks after a month-long trial at the King County Courthouse presided over by Judge O'Donnell, stems from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Mays Estate accusing the city of negligence in its handling of the zone, which protesters occupied for three weeks amid nationwide unrest following George Floyd's death.
The jury's ruling holds the city accountable for creating a "state-created danger" by abandoning the Seattle Police East Precinct, installing barricades that fortified the zone, and prohibiting police and emergency responders from entering the area, which plaintiffs argued enabled unchecked violence and delayed life-saving aid to Mays Jr. Jurors were required to determine whether the City was negligent in its response to the incident, and if so, whether such negligence contributed to Mays' death.