PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Board approved a multimillion-dollar payout Wednesday in the jailhouse death of a 31-year-old Phoenix man who was suffering a mental health crisis as law-enforcement officers tried to subdue him.
The $4 million settlement in Akeem Terrell's death is one of the largest in recent years for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
In September, the City of Phoenix agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a lawsuit over its police officers’ role in Terrell's death.
According to a federal civil rights lawsuit, Terrell was taken to jail on New Year’s Day in 2021 after suffering a psychotic episode at a party.
Jail video showed detention officers and police piled on top of Terrell, after knocking the 6-foot-2-inch, 433-pound man to a cell floor.
“I just couldn't believe what I was seeing,” Terrell’s attorney, Jesse Showalter, said in a 12News interview in January 2023, after the lawsuit was filed. "You have them pressing the life out of him for a total of 3 minutes and then abandoning him when he becomes nonresponsive.”
Showalter wasn’t able to comment Wednesday on the settlement's approval.
Police officers never told detention officers that Terrell was in crisis, according to the suit.
Terrell's final words were "killing me, killing me," the suit says.
The settlement beneficiaries are Terrell's young son, the child's mother and Terrell's father.
Since Jan. 1, 2020, and through Wednesday, Maricopa County has approved 155 legal settlements connected to conduct by the Sheriff's Office, according to data the county provided under a public records request.
Fifteen of the 155 liability settlements were for $100,000 or more. The County Board must approve settlements of $250,000 or above. Settlements are covered by insurance.
Many of the settlements stem from the pre-2016 Joe Arpaio era.
The total bill since 2020 is $32.1 million.
Half of the payouts - $16 million - are the result of two large settlements in just the last five months: the Terrell settlement and a $12 million settlement stemming from a 2020 jailhouse attack that almost killed an inmate.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.