A city in Washington will pay $2 million to the family of 30-year-old Katelynn Rose Smith, who was shot to death by police officers responding to a 911 call from her boyfriend, who had repeatedly asked for help, her family’s attorneys announced.
The payment resolves a wrongful death lawsuit that Smith’s mother, Danielle Whiting, brought against the city of Longview and three officers in November on six causes of actions, including negligence, according to a news release issued by her attorneys, Mark Lindquist and Angus Lee.
Longview agreed on June 16 to pay the $2 million settlement to Whiting and Smith’s two children, Lindquist and Lee said, settling the case before trial, which was set for April 21, 2026.
Smith’s children, now 9 and 14, were 8 and 12 years old when officers shot at Smith 23 times, killing her outside her boyfriend’s home on New Year’s Day, as detailed in the federal lawsuit.
At least 11 bullets hit Smith, according to the suit, which argued the shooting was unnecessary and in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Smith was protected under the federal civil rights law, as the officers knew she was experiencing “a severe mental health crisis, including suicidal ideation and emotional distress, constituting a recognized disability under the ADA,” the filing says.
“She was kind and loving,” Danielle Whiting, Smith’s mother, told McClatchy News. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”
Katelynn Rose Smith.
Whiting is now the primary caregiver for her grandchildren, Lindquist, of Mark Lindquist Law in Tacoma, told McClatchy News.
In a statement shared with McClatchy News on June 17 by Longview public information officer Angela Abel, the city said it is aware of the settlement reached with Smith’s family and that the agreement was overseen by the Washington Cities Insurance Authority.
“Following the incident, all involved officers were cleared of wrongdoing through an internal investigation, an external review, and an independent assessment by the Cowlitz County Prosecutor’s Office,” the city said.
The city’s statement said that after the prosecutor’s office reviewed Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team’s findings, prosecutors “determined the use of deadly force was justified and declined to file criminal charges.”
The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team independently investigates officers involved in using deadly force in Cowlitz County as well as neighboring Wahkiakum County.
“The City of Longview takes this matter very seriously and remains confident in our officers, the training they receive, and the protocols they follow,” the city said.
Lindquist told McClatchy News that “the mistakes we saw in this case are not unique to Longview.”
“Many law enforcement agencies need more and better training on how to handle people who are having a mental health crisis,” he added.
The Longview Police Department did not return a request for comment.
Lindquist and Lee said in the release that Smith graduated high school in 2012 as an honors student, describing her as athletic. She did gymnastics and played high school volleyball.
Katelynn with her mother, Danielle Whiting.
“She was regularly employed, but occasionally struggled with mental health issues,” they said.
What led to the shooting?
One of the officers involved in the Jan. 1, 2024, shooting was familiar with Smith and had responded to a prior incident when she was struggling and in need of help, according to the filing.
In June 2023, her boyfriend told officers Smith was having a mental health crisis, “had not been taking her prescribed medications and had attempted self-harm,” the lawsuit says.
They assessed Smith, then restrained her and placed her onto a gurney to take her to a medical center where she received treatment under the Involuntary Treatment Act, according to the filing.
The lawsuit says her struggles with mental health persisted.
On Jan. 1, 2024, she was having a “severe mental health crisis” and “announced she intended to end her life,” Lindquist and Lee wrote in the filing. “
That day, she tried to get a gun from inside her boyfriend’s home but he physically prevented her from doing so and called 911, as he understood her serious mental health emergency, according to the lawsuit.
While on the phone with a dispatcher for about 10 minutes, he said Smith urgently needed help and repeatedly pleaded for assistance, saying she was harming herself, the lawsuit says.
After about 12 minutes of him on the phone with a dispatcher, police arrived, according to the lawsuit.
When officers found Smith’s boyfriend trying to protect her by physically stopping her from entering his home, where firearms were located, they told him to “back away,” the lawsuit says.
Her boyfriend listened and let go of Smith, who then went inside, without the officers intervening, according to the filing.
“Instead, they took up positions outside the home’s entrance with weapons drawn, waiting for her to come outside,” the complaint says.
At some point, Smith slowly came outside with what the lawsuit says was an unloaded firearm in her hand.
In response, officers repeatedly shot her, striking her leg, stomach, chest and in her head, according to the lawsuit, which says they failed to use less-lethal force.
“Ms. Smith suffered immediate emotional distress, shock, and extreme pain,” Lindquist and Lee wrote.
One officer had a 40mm impact launcher known as a “sponge gun” that could have stopped Smith, but did not use it, according to the attorneys, who said they opened fire on Smith when she pointed the unloaded gun toward them.
“This case shows the devastating consequences of tactical failure and disregard for a person in mental health crisis,” Lee said in a statement. “Police knew she was suicidal and knew there were guns in the home.”
“Instead of preventing access, they created the very danger that led to her death,” Lee added.
Journalist hit by LA deputies’ round at ICE protest needed surgery, claim says
Man with faulty car light was killed by WA deputy, suit says. Family owed $3.5M
17-year-old tased by cop paralyzed, suit says. FL sheriff’s office pays millions
Cops dump amputee from wheelchair and shoot him 11 times, killing him, CA suit says