There are reports today of a settlement in a case involving Troy Goode, who died in 2015 in the custody of the Southaven Police Department.
A settlement was announced after the prosecution and defense made their opening statements in U.S. District Court in Oxford this (Tuesday) morning. Details of the settlement have not been immediately released.
Goode died after being detained by police officers at a Widespread Panic concert at the BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove. Court records described Goode’s detention as having been “hog-tied” for about 90 minutes.
An independent autopsy later said Goode died of cardiac arrhythmia, due to being hog-tied. Police at the time had said Goode was under the influence of LSD and was acting erratically.
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite has issued a statement, the entirety is found below.
The City of Southaven, in conjunction with our insurance carrier, and Kelli Goode, along with her minor child have reached a settlement to avoid trial. While the City remains extremely confident in our legal position and fully and unequivocally supports our first responders, we chose not to subject the City’s finances and our police, firefighters, and EMT’s personal finances to the unpredictability of a jury in today’s climate. I will add emphasis and clearly state again that this decision is in no way an admission of guilt as our team did everything we could do to save the life of Troy Goode in an incredibly difficult situation. We also are in no way accepting responsibility for the actions of all other parties involved. The night of this incident our first responders faced many challenges while timely decisions were critical. They served courageously and I will not let them be second-guessed by anyone, including a jury, while doing their job keeping the City and our citizens safe.
Our Board of Aldermen and I will always back and fully support our first responders and specifically do everything in our power to protect them from personal financial judgments when doing their job in a professional manner. In addition, my administration, along with our Board of Aldermen, has worked extremely hard to significantly increase the City’s reserve fund balance and do not wish to risk these funds with a potentially unfavorable judgment. Thus, today’s decision ends this lawsuit and the uncertainty for all.
As I have said in the past, this has been a tragic situation for all involved, and again, on behalf of the City of Southaven, I express condolences to Kelli Goode and the family.
We have also reached out to the Goode family attorney for comment and will include that when it becomes available.
This is a developing story, return here for more information when it becomes available.
