Family of man killed by Sacramento police at 2020 boxing event files lawsuit against city
The family of a man fatally shot by Sacramento police last year has filed a lawsuit against the city.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court, claims Augustine Morales, 39, did not fire any gunshots before police fatally shot him outside a boxing event in November 2020.
The plaintiffs are Morales’ two children, ages 10 and less than a year, his father Joseph Morales and his longtime partner Wendy Grijalva. The lawsuit names the city and Sacramento Police Sgt. Jeremiah Jarvis as defendants.
The city declined comment on the lawsuit because it has not yet been served with it, said Jennifer Singer, a city spokeswoman.
Jarvis was stationed outside a North Sacramento warehouse during a boxing event, meant to raise awareness about gun violence, attended by more than 300 people. At about 8 p.m., a crowd started to flee the warehouse, as seen on the officer’s body camera footage.
One person can be heard telling the officer a Latino man had a gun. Jarvis can be seen running toward the sound of the shots, then firing shots at Morales in the warehouse parking lot. After he fires about 10 shots, Jarvis orders Morales to drop the gun. After a few moments, Morales slides his gun toward Jarvis, across the pavement. Morales was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to a police department news release: “The sergeant ran to the sounds of shots fired and confronted an armed suspect who was pointing a firearm towards a crowd of people inside of the building.”
The lawsuit claims Morales could not have fired the shots Jarvis heard. There was no magazine in Morales’ pistol, the lawsuit alleged. The magazine was found 75 to 90 feet away. The weapon had a magazine safety, which prevented it from being able to fire a chambered round without the magazine in the pistol. None of the examined shell casings found at the scene were from Morales’ handgun. A gunshot residue test indicated that he had not fired a weapon, the lawsuit alleged.
“Morales did not and could not have fired the shots that Jarvis heard,” the lawsuit said.
A surveillance video release by the police department appears to show Morales walking around holding the gun while about two dozen people crouch behind cars and run away from him.
There was also an unidentified person shooting from the warehouse, the police news release said.
Morales was a Sacramento native whose gun was registered, and the only criminal record he had was a DUI from about 18 years ago, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit claims excessive force, wrongful death, municipal liability and loss of family relationships. It seeks compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, as well as funeral and burial expenses.
