Jury Awards Family Of Kajuan Raye $1 Million; Teen Was Fatally Shot By Chicago Police Sgt. John Poulos
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police Sgt. John Poulos was found liable in a federal civil case for the shooting death on an Englewood teen in 2016. The family of Kajaun Raye was awarded $1 million in damages.
Surveillance video shows Poulos chasing Raye – moments before the sergeant shot him in the back and killed him.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had found the sergeant's actions justified in the Nov. 23, 2016 shooting.
"The family of Kajuan Raye is still grieving the loss of Kajuan each and everyday," said family spokesman Ja'Mal Green. "The family thanks the jury for returning a guilty verdict in the most important claim of battery."
Investigators never found a gun at the scene the day of the shooting. However, a weapon was found under some bushes three months later.
COPA concluded that testimonies, social media pictures, and circumstances led them to determine that the weapon was in Raye's possession at the time of the shooting.
Poulos also shot and killed another man in 2013. A patrol officer at the time, Poulos fatally shot 28-year-old Rickey Rozelle in Lincoln Park.
Poulos was off-duty when he said he saw Rozelle trying to break into a building. He told investigators he shot Rozelle when the man wouldn't show him his hands.
The agency then known as the Independent Police Review Authority ruled that shooting was also justified. They found Rozelle threatened to kill the officer and turned toward him with a shiny metallic object.
However, investigators never found a weapon on or near Rozelle's body.
"No amount of money will return Kajuan to his mother and family, but we are overjoyed that justice was finally served," said family attorney Michael Oppenheimer. "Sgt. Poulos is a disgrace to the Chicago Police Department and the people of this city."
Raye's family hopes that COPA will reopen their investigation into Poulos, calling for him to be fired.
The Raye verdict is one of two major verdicts handed down against the City of Chicago by juries on Tuesday. A jury also awarded $5.2 million to Stanley Wrice, who said he was tortured by corrupt Chicago Police detectives working under Cmdr. Jon Burge into confessing to a brutal rape in 1982.
