Council approves rare settlement in HPD shooting death of unarmed man

Audry L. Releford, whose mentally ill son Kenneth was shot and killed by a police officer in 2012 points recalls the night Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Houston. The same officer was involved soon after in another shooting and the incident has sparked a wrongful death case against HPD that challenges the quality of HPD's reviews of all officer involved shootings from 2009-2012 under outgoing Chief McClelland. less Audry L. Releford, whose mentally ill son Kenneth was shot and killed by a police officer in 2012 points recalls the night Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Houston. The same officer was involved soon after in ... more Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Council approves rare settlement in HPD shooting death of unarmed man 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Audry Releford, a retired middle school teacher, stood in the middle of Francis Street last year as a Houston Police Department cruiser rolled by. It was the exact spot where his only son, Kenny, fell after being fatally shot in front of his own home by another HPD officer in 2012.

The grieving father had taken a strong stand in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in 2014 on behalf of all Houstonians like Kenny, who were unarmed or mentally ill or both when killed by HPD police officers.

In more than 150 cases from 2010-2015, the department had found all of its shootings to be "justified" — thereby establishing a custom of condoning use of lethal force against civilians, unarmed or not, his case alleged.

However on Wednesday, the Houston City Council approved a $260,000 settlement following a series of federal court rulings that sided with Releford over the city of Houston's attorneys.

Related: Watch video on what two HPD officers' texted following the Releford shooting

It's by far the largest settlement to be reported in any case involving an unarmed person killed by police in Houston in years — but the lawsuit separately marks a kind of turning point for local civil rights leaders who described it as one of several cases that boosted public awareness about police use-of-force and weaknesses in HPD's reviews of officer-involved shootings.

James Douglas, president of the Houston NAACP chapter and a law professor at Texas Southern University, said he sees the settlement as part of a sea change in Houston — including a new mayor, police chief, sheriff and district attorney, who all have demonstrated they accept responsibility for problematic cases and push reforms.

"I am very impressed with the way criminal justice has been handled in the city of Houston today and I think it's admirable that we have city leaders who take responsibility for police officers who overstep their authorities," Douglas said.

On Oct. 11, 2012, Kenny Releford, a 38-year-old U.S. Navy veteran and former Texas Southern University student, was killed before a circle of friends — including Roger Abbs, a neighbor who had called police for help because Kenny, who suffered from schizophrenia, had earlier that night broken into Abbs' home during a mental health crisis.

But by the time Officer Jason Rosemon confronted him around midnight, Kenny had been standing in the middle of the street, presented no threat and was clearly unarmed when he was shot and killed, according to affidavits from Abbs and three others.

His neighbors' statements became a critical part of Releford's 2014 lawsuit, which argued that HPD officials repeatedly improperly cleared officers who'd shot or killed unarmed people — even when the department's own internal affairs investigations revealed violations of training, policies or state laws. The city, in contrast, argued that Rosemon fired once because he feared for his life because Kenny Releford had refused to show one of his hands and again when he said Releford tried to get up.

The settlement this week comes after the case survived a vigorous federal court fight. Over the years, most people who have sued Houston over officer-involved shootings have lost quickly. But in this case, Releford's attorneys successfully poked holes in the city's legal arguments and in HPD's Internal Affairs reviews both of Kenny's case and others — pointing out that some officers had not been punished even when their justifications for shooting unarmed civilians were contradicted by physical evidence or by other witnesses.

Because of rulings in the case by U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, the Houston Police Department was compelled to release previously secret internal reviews of Releford's shooting as well as of other unarmed Houstonians. Most of the evidence filed as exhibits in the Releford case was never sealed despite efforts by the city of Houston's attorneys and HPD's union to keep shooting probes confidential. That meant some HPD internal investigative documents became available to the public for the first time — including information that contradicted the officer's account in the fatal shooting of a mentally ill double amputee named Brian Claunch, who was in a wheelchair when an HPD officer shot and killed him in 2012.

Related: Crime scene photos contradict officer's account of shooting

City and county leaders already have changed leadership and reformed procedures since Releford's death. Mayor Sylvester Turner has hired a new police chief, Art Acevedo, who reformed officer-involved shooting internal reviews. Separately, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg also created a new team to beef up her office's oversight of officer-involved shooting incidents countywide.

Douglas said he'd still like to see more reforms — including boosting the role of a civilian advisory board that helps oversee HPD's internal reviews. Turner said that he does not anticipate any changes to the board, which critics have described as "cosmetic" and "toothless."