Family of fatally shot woman to sue police, city

She was killed hours after reporting domestic violence assault

A family member of a woman fatally shot last summer hours after she went to police to report a domestic violence incident involving the man who would later kill her has filed an intent to sue the city and its police force.

The notice of intent — filed with the in New Haven city clerk and corporation counsel this month — alleges that officers with the New Haven Police Department failed to protect 54-year-old Sheila Harris from Christopher Garvin, a 54-year-old man with whom she had two children in common. Harris last August went to police hours before she was fatally shot by Garvin and told officers he had assaulted her and was armed with a gun, the notice said.

After searching her residence and failing to locate the suspect, officers left Harris alone in her home to respond to another call. “Within moments” of police leaving, Garvin, who had been lying in wait, emerged at the home and fatally shot Harris, the notice contends.

Garvin was shot and killed by a family member of Harris who police believe was trying to defend her. Harris was taken to an area hospital where she died days later.

“Our notice of intent to sue sheds light on the gross negligence and incompetence of at least five police officers entrusted with public safety in New Haven,” New Haven-based attorney Alex Taubes told the Courant. “The city’s failure to protect Sheila Harris resulted in a senseless tragedy. We demand accountability and justice for her untimely death.

“This case exposes systemic failures that cannot go unaddressed. This death was preventable. Our pursuit of justice will be relentless. We trust that the legal process will provide a thorough examination of the events leading to this incident.”

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement this week that police Chief Karl Jacob

son opened an internal affairs investigation after the shooting to review whether officers followed all appropriate protocols. That investigation is ongoing, according to Elicker.

“We recently received the notice of intent to sue and are reviewing it accordingly,” Elicker said. “The loss of Ms. Harris is tragic for her family, loved ones and our community. Cases involving domestic violence are treated with the utmost seriousness by the New Haven Police Department.”

According to police, Harris went to the police department on Union Avenue on Aug. 19, 2023, just before 11:30 p.m. and reported a physical altercation involving Garvin. She told police that Garvin — a known convicted felon — had “brandished an illegal firearm at her” and had stolen her legally owned firearm before leaving her home, Taubes wrote in the notice of intent to sue.

Harris told officers Garvin later returned to her home. He punched her in the face and tried to break her glasses, the document alleges.

Police documented injuries on Harris’ neck and forehead and were able to reach Garvin over the phone, according to the document. During the phone call, Garvin was uncooperative, talking over police, and accused Harris of cheating on him, the intent to sue states. He also told officers he had been looking for Harris but could not find her, Taubes wrote.

Shortly after the initial phone call, Garvin called a detective and referred to Harris as “this (expletive) (expletive) Sheila” and mentioned that she had a boyfriend, according to the notice of intent. During the call, the detective heard someone in the background say she was going to call the police, Taubes wrote.

According to the notice to sue, Garvin called the same detective twice more between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m., “but for reasons unexplained,” the detective “made no further contact with Mr. Garvin.”

Several police officers received permission from Harris to search her residence on Shelton Avenue and look for Garvin. They escorted her to the home and could not find him, the notice states.

While officers were still with Harris, an unidentified person called police and made a complaint about a suspicious person less than a half mile away in the 400 block of Shelton Avenue, the notice to sue states. Taubes speculated in the intent to sue that the caller could have been Garvin.

The five officers with Harris left her residence and responded to the call, leaving her by herself, the notice said. According to police, officers had established a safety plan with her before leaving.

Though Harris indicated to police she would not spend the night at her residence, Taubes wrote, “none of the officers escorted her away from the property.”

Within moments of police leaving, Garvin entered the residence through the back door and left the home through the front, where he smashed the windows to Harris’ vehicle, according to the notice of intent. When Harris “came out to see what happened to her car, Mr. Garvin murdered her,” Taubes wrote.

Police said they responded around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2023, and found both Garvin and Harris suffering from gunshot wounds. The family member believed to have shot Garvin in defense of Harris has not been charged.

“Ms. Harris’s murder was caused through the neglect and default of the City of New Haven, its agents, employees, servants and by the named individuals…” Taubes wrote in the notice to sue.

Taubes’ letter of intent lists 21 alleged failures by police that could have helped prevent Harris’ killing, including failing to properly train officers and supervisors as well as not using “proper techniques in domestic violence investigations.”

The intent to sue was filed on behalf of a family member who has been appointed the administrator of Harris’ estate and alleges negligence and recklessness that resulted in a wrongful death.

Civil litigation filed against police in connection with Harris’ death would be the third such wrongful death lawsuit filed in New Haven County in the past year alleging police departments failed to protect victims of domestic violence. Similar lawsuits have been filed against police in Branford in connection with a murder-suicide that took the life of 21-year-old Caroline Ashworth and the Milford Police Department in connection with the killing of 40-year-old Julie Minogue.