NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville mother is receiving a six-figure settlement in her daughter's wrongful death lawsuit.
In 2021, police say 24-year-old Michaela Carter was shot and killed by her estranged husband James Leggett even though she had an order of protection against him.
Her family argued police did not follow policy and could've saved her daughter's life by arresting Leggett when she called for help. Just moments before meeting with Carter and her mother, Kimberly Jones-Mbuyi, officers saw Leggett, but didn't arrest him after getting notice of him failing to abide by the protection order. Last night, Metro Council approved a resolution to pay $250,000 to Carter's mother.
Shortly after approving the settlement, the family's attorney released a statement saying, “it should not have taken litigation for Metro to adopt policy changes to address the clear MNPD failures that got Mrs. Jones-Mbuyi’s daughter killed, though, and those policy changes should never have been used by Metro Legal as leverage in settlement negotiations. Even so, we are pleased that meaningful policy changes that will help protect future domestic violence victims are now in place, and we are proud to have secured close to the maximum permitted recovery for Mrs. Jones-Mbuyi to go along with them."
Policy changes include making sure body cameras are turned on when victims of domestic violence are given information on shelters and counseling.
They also require officers to send out rapid "Be on the Look Out" alerts for suspected Order of Protection Violators so they can be apprehended quickly.
Council says they're pleased that new policy changes will help protect future domestic violence victims and they're happy that Carter's family is receiving some kind of solace in this case.
Jones-Mbuyi has a lawsuit pending in the second circuit court against Metro and its Community Review Board due to a state law that stopped the board from looking into her allegations of police misconduct.
The law forbids independent investigations into police misconduct if a person has initiated, threatened, or given notice of the intent to initiate litigation against the department or its employees.
Leggett is due in court tomorrow.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
