City to pay $1 million to family of slain woman
Payout one of largest in city for an individual
The city of Columbus intends to pay $1 million to the family of a woman killed by an undercover police officer in August 2018, according to documents filed in Franklin County Probate Court.
The family of Donna Castleberry had filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S.
District Court in August 2019 against the city, former police chief Kim Jacobs and former Columbus police officer Andrew
Mitchell.
The payout would be one of the largest settlements for an individual case in the city’s history.
On Aug. 23, 2018, Mitchell was working undercover as a vice officer in Franklinton when he picked up the 23-yearold Castleberry, who was a prostitute in the area. Mitchell drove her to a location where the passenger side of the vehicle was up against a brick wall of an apartment building at the corner of Yale and Bellows avenues.
A confrontation occurred inside
Mitchell’s unmarked police vehicle, during which Castleberry stabbed one of Mitchell’s hands. Mitchell fired multiple shots at Castleberry inside the vehicle, striking her three times.
Castleberry died at Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center a short time later.
Attorneys representing the city and Jacobs agreed in May to a tentative settlement. Documents were filed in Franklin County Probate Court revealing the details of the settlement.
Columbus City Council still has to approve the settlement payment. If that happens, the civil case will be dismissed against the city and Jacobs with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.
The settlement does not apply to Mitchell, who remains a defendant in the civil suit and in criminal cases against him in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and U.S. District Court in Columbus.
The filing of the settlement agreement in court papers came days before Mitchell was scheduled to go to trial Monday in county Common Pleas Court on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in Castleberry’s death. That trial has been continued to a date that has not yet been determined.
Mitchell is the first Columbus police officer in at least two decades, if not longer, to face murder charges for onduty conduct.
Mitchell’s attorneys have argued Mitchell acted with reasonable force because Castleberry had stabbed him in the hand and attempted to choke him when he revealed he was an undercover officer.
He was in fear for his life when he fired his weapon, his attorneys said, and have accused Prosecutor Ron O’brien of withholding information from the grand jury that indicted Mitchell.
O’brien has said in court filings that Castleberry did not believe Mitchell was a police officer because he did not have his badge or a police radio with him when she asked to see them.
Court documents said Mitchell fired at Castleberry after she had scrambled into the back seat of the vehicle in an attempt to escape, but the vehicle had safety locks, which prevented that.
Mitchell is also under indictment in federal court on charges that he forced women to engage in sexual conduct in exchange for their freedom, as well as lying to federal investigators. That case will go to trial after the Franklin County case has been completed.
In other recent federal lawsuits involving the Columbus police division, the city has paid out settlements of $475,000 to 28-year police veteran Karl Shaw for racial discrimination and $450,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in connection with her arrest by undercover city police officers at a Columbus strip club.
The city is also currently facing lawsuits in federal court filed by former Columbus police officer Kevin Morgan II and about two dozen people who participated in protests in the Downtown area during the summer. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner