A settlement in the excessive force lawsuit of a Columbia couple against the city and four police officers has been reached.
Both sides agreed to settle the matter for a total of $60,000 — $30,000 for each plaintiff, Myjellious and Monica McKenzie.
The settlement filed June 1 contains a confidentially agreement, but the C-P obtained a copy through a public records request. The court document says the city is released from any future liability from the incident and that the city is not admitting to any violation of the McKenzies’ rights.
Myjellious McKenzie and his attorney, Charles R. Mullins of Jackson, both declined to comment, as did City Attorney Lawrence Hahn.
The federal lawsuit was filed Dec. 19, 2019, and the defendants included Columbia police officers Nathan Cook, Andrew Reid, David Ryan Williams and Steven Palmer, as well as the City of Columbia.
The lawsuit is based on events from Aug. 23, 2018, at the McKenzies’ home at 401 Hawkins Ave. The incident began with a vehicle that was running in the yard with music playing and led to a confrontation. According to the lawsuit, Monica McKenzie eventually had a panic attack and her husband remained by her side until an ambulance arrived. The lawsuit says after she was taken away on a stretcher, MyJellious McKenzie turned to go inside and that the officers rushed in behind him and attacked him. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Surveillance footage, which MyJellious McKenzie previously posted on Facebook, shows interactions on their porch but does not include audio or what happened inside the house.
McKenzie was initially convicted of disorderly conduct in Columbia Municipal Court, but prosecutors withdrew the charge in 2019 after he appealed to Marion County Circuit Court.
In addition to the allegations against the officers, the lawsuit says that the city “had prior knowledge that Officer Cook had used excessive force on detainees on prior occasions yet chose not to take any action against him or to investigate, retrain, discipline or reassign him.”
In February, the city settled an unrelated lawsuit for $25,000 that alleged Cook attacked and threatened a former Columbia man, Jessie Domenique Jefferson, in 2018 after Jefferson went back on a plan to buy drugs while wearing a wire.
A jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2021, in a lawsuit filed by Shamber Hollins that alleges Cook hit her and threw her to the ground during a 2017 traffic stop, according to court documents. The city has denied those claims in its court response.
