Jury Awards $1M To The Family Of An Armed Teen Shot Dead By A Chicago Police Officer

Police Officer Uniform
"[People] are no longer tolerating the dishonest excuses and fear-mongering that have been touted by the police department for decades," said Jared Kosoglad, the attorney for Kajuan Raye's mother. WBEZ
Police Officer Uniform
"[People] are no longer tolerating the dishonest excuses and fear-mongering that have been touted by the police department for decades," said Jared Kosoglad, the attorney for Kajuan Raye's mother. WBEZ

Jury Awards $1M To The Family Of An Armed Teen Shot Dead By A Chicago Police Officer

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A jury has awarded $1 million to the family of an armed teenager who was shot dead by a Chicago police sergeant.

Sgt. John Poulos testified that Kajuan Raye, 19, was pointing a gun at him when he fired one shot that hit the teen in the back and killed him.

Raye did have a gun, but physical evidence showed it was in his pocket. That finding was backed up by Poulos’ own expert, but Poulos disregarded that on the stand. He couldn’t explain the inconsistency but insisted the teen was pointing the gun when he shot.

Jared Kosoglad, an attorney for Raye’s mother, Karonisha Ramsey, called Poulos a liar.

“People are wising up to the fact that the police are inflicting violence against some communities that they don’t inflict on others,” he said. “And they’re no longer tolerating the dishonest excuses and fear-mongering that have been touted by the police department for decades.”

The Raye shooting was the second of Poulos’ career. In 2013 he killed a man, and no gun was ever found. Poulos told investigators he had mistaken a suspected burglar’s watch for a gun and shot him.

Now Kosoglad is asking why the city is still employing the sergeant.

“Every time they sit on their hands and do nothing it encourages other officers to do what officer Poulos did,” he said. “To fabricate a lie, to make up a story, to move on with his career like nothing happened.”

A spokesperson for the city’s law department did not respond to calls about the verdict or questions about Poulos’ future employment with the city. Instead they emailed a statement that said the city was “assessing next steps.”