The family of a 27-year-old man killed by Colorado Springs police officers in 2018 reached a $3.2 million settlement with the city Tuesday.
According to court documents, Jeffrey Melvin Jr. died in the hospital on May 2, 2018, six days after being tased up to eight times in a two minute period by CSPD Officers Daniel Patterson and Joshua Archer. The officers were attempting to arrest Melvin after responding to calls of a late night disturbance at the Remington Apartments in the southeast of the city.
“No amount of money will bring my son back home to us,” Melvin’s father, Jeffrey Melvin Sr., said in a statement. “But,I am glad that Colorado Springs finally came to the table and agreed to settle the case and recognize the tragedy they inflicted on our family.”
Jordan Bruno, who rented the apartment investigated by Patterson and Archer in 2018, told the officers he’d had a fight with a friend earlier, but it had resolved and the friend had since left. Melvin, who court records say was not involved with nor present for that initial altercation, arrived about 18 minutes later as officers were checking for warrants on the occupants and searching for evidence of other crimes.
Body camera footage from the encounter shows Melvin appearing surprised and confused by the presence of the officers and trying to lock himself in the apartment. Officer Patterson ordered Melvin to turn around and put his arms behind his back. Melvin resisted, asking “What am I being detained for?”
Several minutes of struggle followed, during which Patterson and Archer each Tased Melvin and deployed pepper spray. Nevertheless, Melvin pulled the Taser plugs off himself and ran from the apartment, only to collapse once he left the building. He was transported to the hospital and placed in a medically-induced coma, where he later died.
Autopsy results list Melvin’s death as a homicide and state he “died as a result of complication of sickle cell trait and extreme exertion during confrontation with police and associated Taser deployment.” The lawsuit from Melvin’s estate claims the death resulted from a fatal release of lactic acid following the use of Tasers.
Killmer Lane, LLP, the law firm representing the Melvin estate, said he is survived by his parents, six siblings and three sons.
Tuesday’s settlement ends a lawsuit alleging the police department failed to adequately train its officers in proper use of force. The suit also claims that Melvin, who was Black, fell victim to a department with a “pattern of racially motivated violence.”
Earlier claims against Patterson and Archer individually were dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 2023. The court found the officers entitled to qualified immunity in the case.
While Colorado Springs City Council members agreed to the settlement Tuesday, a press release from CSPD said the department did not agree with the decision and had been prepared to take the lawsuit to trial.
“This settlement is not, in any way, an admission or indication that CSPD’s training standards were inadequate or that we failed to properly train officers,” the release states. “Rather, it was a decision made by the City’s excess coverage insurance carrier to mitigate a perceived financial risk.”
Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade described the settlement as “the most financially responsible path.”
“Law enforcement is a difficult and complex profession, where officers must often make split-second decisions in unpredictable situations,” Mobolade said in a statement. “I remain deeply committed to supporting our police officers and the critical work they do to keep our community safe.”
The incident adds to a recent list of prominent settlements from the city in cases involving excessive force by police against people of color. Last year, Colorado Springs reached a $2.1 million settlement in the beating of Dalvin Gadson following a traffic stop. In 2022, the city paid $2.975 million to settle a lawsuit involving the shooting death of De’Von Bailey.
Another federal wrongful death lawsuit, filed by the family of a 63-year-old white man, is ongoing. Kevin Dizmang died in 2022 after being restrained by CSPD’s Crisis Response Team.
According to the Police Brutality Center, also ongoing is a $7 million excessive force lawsuit filed just this July by Al’morion Germany. Germany, a 22-year-old Black man, was shot by Colorado Springs Police in June, 2024. The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s office has ruled that shooting justified.
