Seattle appeals $30.5 million verdict in CHAZ killing of teen after judge rejected bid for new trial
Seattle is appealing a $30.5 million verdict awarded to the family of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. for his killing in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), arguing that delayed emergency care does not establish the city’s legal responsibility. The move comes after a January jury found Seattle negligent in its emergency response and a judge’s April ruling rejected the city’s bid for a new trial. The appeal focuses on causation, damages attributed to the shooter, and the city’s duty to provide aid, while the case sits within the broader CHAZ-era tensions following police withdrawal in 2020. The appellate process will determine whether the verdict stands, is reduced, or a new trial is granted, as other related litigation continues.
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Antonio Mays Jr. was shot on June 29, 2020 inside CHAZ, an area formed after Seattle police abandoned the East Precinct amid protests and riots following George Floyd’s death, and he was one of two teens struck by gunfire that day.
A January jury found Seattle negligent in its emergency response to Mays’s shooting, and a trial judge later rejected the city’s bid to overturn that verdict, setting the stage for the current appeal.
Seattle’s appeal raises three core points: the medical evidence did not prove causation, the verdict form exposed the city to damages tied to the shooter, and a jury instruction improperly defined the city’s duty to provide aid.
The city contends experts described Mays as having only a small chance of survival with earlier treatment, while Seattle argues the family needed to show that he more likely than not would have survived absent negligence, not merely that delayed care reduced his survival chances.
Seattle disputes the timeline, noting professional treatment began roughly 15 minutes after the shooting, only three to four minutes after the earliest point asserted by the family’s account, and a judge previously upheld the causal link between delay and death.
Judge Sean O’Donnell oversaw the case, labeling the verdict as grounded in reality and denying post-trial challenges on causation and damages, while the city emphasizes a disconnect between the jury’s instructions and the damages verdict.
Beyond Mays’s case, related litigation includes West’s separate suit against Seattle and ongoing requests for public release of 116 body-camera videos, along with calls for a congressional review of the circumstances surrounding Mays’s death.