Jury Awards $8.3 Million to Family of Kansas Foster Teen Who Died in Custody
A federal jury in Wichita has awarded $8.3 million to the family of Cedric "C.J." Lofton, a Kansas foster teenager who died in 2021 after being held facedown for 39 minutes at a juvenile intake centre while experiencing a severe mental health crisis. The verdict, delivered on Wednesday, found that five juvenile officers in Sedgwick County either used excessive force on Lofton or failed to intervene during the fatal incident.
Details of the Tragic Incident and Legal Proceedings
Lofton died in hospital on September 26, 2021, just one day before his eighteenth birthday. The final autopsy report classified his death as a homicide. However, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett stated in the months following the tragedy that the state's "stand-your-ground" law prevented him from pursuing involuntary manslaughter charges against staff members, arguing they were acting in self-defence.
John Marrese, an attorney representing Lofton's brother and the estate, expressed satisfaction that jurors rejected defence arguments linking the death to "excited delirium," a controversial diagnosis discredited by major medical associations. Critics have long asserted that this term has been frequently used to justify excessive force by law enforcement personnel.
"It's 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," Marrese commented on Thursday.
Sequence of Events Leading to the Fatal Restraint
Lofton's mental health had deteriorated significantly after he travelled to Texas for his grandmother's funeral. According to Bennett's report, the teenager told a foster brother that he believed his classmates were murderous robots. His foster father subsequently drove him to a mental health provider, but Lofton ran away.
When Lofton returned home at 1 a.m. the following day, his foster father contacted Wichita police. Body camera footage revealed that officers spent nearly an hour attempting to persuade the 5-foot-10, 135-pound teenager to accompany them voluntarily to a mental hospital. When he refused to budge, they decided to take him forcibly, restraining him in a device known as the WRAP, which consists of a locking shoulder harness, leg restraints, and ankle straps.
A sergeant then determined Lofton was too combative for hospital admission, leading officers to transport him instead to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Centre. After the WRAP restraint was removed at the facility, Lofton scuffled with staff members, who subsequently shackled his ankles and placed him on his stomach on the floor.
Paramedics were summoned urgently after staff noticed he had stopped breathing. Tragically, Lofton died two days later in hospital.
Official Responses and Ongoing Review
Sedgwick County, which employed the officers named in the lawsuit, issued a news release on Wednesday stating that it is currently reviewing the verdict and discussing potential next steps. The substantial financial award represents a significant legal outcome in a case that has highlighted critical concerns regarding restraint practices, mental health crisis intervention, and accountability within juvenile detention systems.
