No decision on charges 14 months after deputy kills suspect at lakefront
The family of a man fatally shot by a sheriff ’s deputy at Milwaukee’s lakefront last year as the man tried to drive away from a traffic stop has sued the deputy, Milwaukee County, former Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and other officials.
Terry Williams, 19, had refused to stop for deputies near the entrance to Bradford Beach on a crowded Sunday evening, June 11, 2017. After a short chase through a lawn, he drove onto northbound Lincoln Memorial Drive back toward the beach entrance where he was shot by Deputy Michael Truax, who was standing in the southbound lanes when Williams drove up on a median.
Fourteen months later, Truax, who was hired in 2016, remains on administrative duty as the district attorney decides whether to file criminal charges. The lawsuit, filed in Milwaukee federal court, charges that Truax fired at Williams’ custom-painted Audi SUV in violation of the Sheriff ’s Office’s policies on the use of deadly force and that Clarke failed to launch an internal investigation of the incident, allowing Truax to assert his right to remain silent and stymie a full criminal investigation.
Most law enforcement agencies can compel their officers to answer questions posed as part of internal investigations when the answers cannot be used against the officer in any related criminal investigation.
According to Williams’ mother’s lawsuit, for civil purposes, Truax’s refusal to answer investigators’ questions “constitutes an admission of wrongdoing.”
A sheriff’s spokesperson declined to comment on the suit. Lawyers for the county and Truax could not be reached Friday.
The Waukesha County Sheriff ’s Department investigated the incident and turned over its report to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm a year ago. Chisholm has yet to decide whether to issue charges.
Truax, who was on administrative leave during the investigation, remains a deputy with the Sheriff ’s Office.
The lawsuit includes claims for unlawful arrest or detention, denial of due process, deficient hiring and retention of Truax, failure to properly train Truax and failure to discipline. It seeks unspecified compensatory and
special damages.
Williams’ mother and special administrator of his estate, Cuc Huynh, and his minor daughter, are the plaintiffs in the case. They are represented by Walter Stern, a Kenosha attorney.
In the days after the shooting, thenSheriff Clarke said deputies tried to stop Williams because he failed to stop for a traffic light when leaving the parking area at Bradford Beach.
The suit says Williams was, in fact, stopped at the light when an unnamed deputy turned on his emergency lights behind him. It alleges the deputy tried to pull Williams over because of the custom, color-changing paint on his Audi Q.
The Sheriff’s Office and Milwaukee police had informal policies “to follow, stop and question the drivers and occupants of these chameleonic paint scheme vehicles, as they were suspected of some unsubstantiated criminal activity,” according to the suit.
Clarke said Truax, who was on foot, feared for his life and the safety of the many people in the area when he shot. The lawsuit alleges Truax fired into the driver’s side of Williams’ Audi from a 45-degree angle and was never in danger of being run over.
Deputies recovered a loaded handgun from inside Williams’ vehicle, Clarke said last year.
Days after the incident, Milwaukee police said Williams had been connected to an earlier dispute that erupted in gunfire but did not injure anyone. It is not clear whether deputies were aware Williams was wanted for questioning in that case when they chased him on crowded North Lincoln Memorial Drive.
Williams was shot in the head and died two days later in a hospital. His front seat passenger, Paula McEwan, was shot and severely injured. She filed a notice of injury — a prerequisite for eventually filing a lawsuit — with the county in October.