Man shot by Chicago cops as a teen is awarded $1.2 million by jury

Derquann Wilson was only 15 when Officer Sajit Walter shot him in 2011.

A 22-year-old Chicago man who was shot by police officers when he was a teenager, is seeing justice served after a jury awarded him more than a million dollars in damages

Kia Morgan-Smith

Mar 16, 2018

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A 22-year-old Chicago man who was shot by police officers when he was a teenager is seeing justice served after a jury awarded him more than a million dollars in damages, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

Derquann Wilson was only 15 when Officer Sajit Walter shot him in 2011. Wilson survived and has been fighting an uphill battle to win his case in his second attempt after the first trial ended in a hung jury.

He sued for $8 million but was awarded $1,241,907 Thursday by a Cook County jury.

“Derquann was truly a victim of the wrongful conduct of Chicago police officer Sajit Walter, resulting in significant and life-threatening injuries to him when he was 15 years old,” said Wilson’s attorney, Craig Sandberg. “We’re very grateful that the jury recognized Officer Walter’s reckless conduct.”

Wilson was a passenger in the front seat of a vehicle when Walter approached the car and fired off five shots – striking Wilson in his hand and upper back. Wilson nearly died from the critical injuries and he lost a finger. Jermaine Henry was also a passenger and he was hit as well while sitting behind Wilson.

Walter claimed that the passenger in the back of the car was pointing what he believed to be a gun and he initially fired because he feared for his life. No gun was found. There was, however, a gun-shaped lighter on the scene that belonged to Henry – the rear-seated passenger.

Sandberg argued that the gun-shaped lighter was never in plain sight, and it ultimately gave the cop a defense to support his fabricated story.

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“Officer Walter lied to protect himself,” said co-counsel, Keenan Saulter to jurors during closing arguments Thursday. “This is his career. He told you there were two shots to the front of the car. Where are they?”

At the time of the incident, when he was a teenager, Henry pleaded guilty to pointing the novelty lighter. But he told jurors in this civil case that he only agreed to the plea deal back then because he thought that’s what he had to do to guarantee his freedom. He now says he never pointed the lighter at anyone.