Lofton’s death occurred when officers took him into custody at the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center after he refused to go to a hospital during a mental-health emergency in September 2021, according to the trial record described in testimony and reports.
Jurors decided the case in federal court in Wichita on Wednesday, awarding $8.3 million to Lofton’s family after they determined that five juvenile officers either used excessive force on him or failed to intervene. The case centered on how officers restrained him while he was experiencing what the lawsuit said was a mental-health crisis and how staff responded after the restraints were removed.
In the courtroom, the officers’ use of a restraint device known as the WRAP became a focal point. Officers ultimately transported Lofton to the juvenile intake center rather than a mental hospital after a sergeant determined he was too combative to go, according to a report described in the trial materials. After the WRAP restraint was removed, staff put Lofton on his stomach on the floor and shackled his ankles; paramedics were called after staff noticed he was not breathing, and he died two days later.
John Marrese, an attorney for Lofton’s brother and the estate, said Thursday he was pleased the jury rejected the defense position that the death stemmed from “excited delirium,” a diagnosis he described as controversial and discredited by major medical associations. Marrese also said the outcome was “a good development in the world of prolonged prone restraint in terms of a jury acknowledging how dangerous it is and the fact that it can be fatal,” framing the verdict as a recognition of the risk of prone restraint during crises.
Sedgwick County said in a news release Wednesday that it was reviewing the verdict and discussing next steps, according to the report of the trial proceedings. The county employed the officers named in the lawsuit.
The case also drew on the earlier findings about Lofton’s death. A final autopsy declared his death a homicide. But later, district attorney Marc Bennett said Kansas’s “stand-your-ground” law prevented him from pursuing charges of involuntary manslaughter because staff members were protecting themselves, according to a report described in the trial record.
According to Bennett’s report, Lofton’s mental health deteriorated after he traveled to Texas for his grandmother’s funeral. Bennett wrote that Lofton told a foster brother that he believed his classmates were murderous robots; the report said Lofton later ran off after his foster father took him to a mental health provider, and then when he returned home around 1 a.m., the foster father called Wichita police.
The incident that preceded Lofton’s death began after police were called and officers spent nearly an hour trying to persuade him to allow them to take him to a mental hospital, body camera video shown in court indicated. Lofton, described as 5-foot-10 and 135 pounds (about 61 kilograms), refused to budge, and officers ultimately decided to take him forcibly, restraining him facedown for nearly 39 minutes as the conflict unfolded before he was transported to the juvenile intake center.