Pasco widow withdraws $25 million wrongful death lawsuit
Feb 22, 2015, 5:26 PM | Updated: 5:57 pm
Teresa de Jesus Meraz-Ruiz filed a wrongful death lawsuit on February 13, days after her estranged husband's death at the hands of Pasco police officers. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
The widow of Antonio Zambrano-Montes is withdrawing a $25 million claim against the City of Pasco.
Teresa de Jesus Meraz-Ruiz filed a wrongful death lawsuit on February 13, days after her estranged husband’s death at the hands of Pasco police officers.
Meraz-Ruiz now has new legal representation, attorney Charles Herrmann, the same lawyer as the mother and siblings of Zambrano-Montes.
Herrmann wrote in an e-mail to Pasco business leaders that the previous claim “was premature, ill-considered, and done without Teresa’s knowledge or express consent.”
Herrmann said his firm is conducting an independent investigation and will file a new claim once all information is considered.
“Antonio posed no threat of grievous harm to these policemen at the moment they took his life,” Hermann wrote in the email obtained by The Tri-City Herald. “The mere fact that he may have thrown rocks before, or even if he possibly had a small pebble hidden in his hand, it cannot possibly justify police resorting to deadly force.”
Previously, the family had asked for its own autopsy.
Meraz-Ruiz and Zambrano-Montes have two daughters, ages 12 and 15.
Protesters upset over the shooting of Zambrano-Montes continued demonstrations over the weekend.
Read more: Group protesting Pasco shooting blocks bridge
On Saturday demonstrators marched from the bakery where Zambrano-Montes was killed to a major cable bridge that spans the Columbia River between Pasco and Kennewick, temporarily shutting down traffic.
