As Seattle’s CHOP legal damages climb to $45M, lawsuit restarted for teen who survived deadly shooting

West and Oshan (Image: Oshan & Associates)

The lawyer who successfully won a $30 million jury verdict against the city in the CHOP shooting death of Antonio Mays Jr. has refiled a suit on behalf of the other teen shot and injured that night.

Evan Oshan of Oshan & Associates says Robert West suffered injuries that left him permanently disabled in the June 29th, 2020 shooting on a night of drive-by fears around the protest zone.

West was 14 at the time and now lives with injuries and brain impairment suffered in the shooting.

“Robert West was in that same vehicle, shot in the same attack, abandoned by the same City,” Oshan’s press release on the filing reads. “The only difference is Robert survived — and he lives with what the City did to him every single day. This lawsuit is about holding the City accountable.”

CHS reported here on the jury’s decision last month to award the Mays family millions in the wrongful death lawsuit that found the city liable in a case centering on the Seattle Police Department’s abandonment of the East Precinct and the failures in the police and Seattle Fire response to the 12th Ave shooting scene.

The shooting was a final straw as police were ordered to storm the protest encampments and clear the area two days later. No suspects in the Mays and West shooting have been publicly identified.

SPD says the investigation of the shooting remains an open case.

Oshan had initially filed cases on behalf of each teen but dropped the original West case as the Mays lawsuit moved forward.

The city’s cumulative legal costs from its response to the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations have soared well beyond some $45 million in settlements and awards.

The Mays verdict could still be overturned but City Attorney Erika Evans has not said if her office will pursue an appeal.

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