The family of a man killed by an officer moments after he had subdued and disarmed an intruder who broke into his home has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Phoenix and the officer who fired the fatal shot.
Christian Diaz had confronted a man who fired shots into his home on Jan. 26, effectively bringing him to the ground and sitting on him, the lawsuit said. When an officer arrived at the home, he shouted at Diaz to put his hands up, the lawsuit said, but fired within one second, striking Diaz in the head and killing him.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Arizona alleges claims of wrongful death and violations of the civil rights of other people in the household.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 29, did not list an amount of money
sought. A notice of claim, a precursor to the lawsuit that was filed in February, said it sought $25 million to avoid having the case go to trial.
The Phoenix Police Department did not return an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit said that people in the home and neighbors had told dispatchers that the armed intruder was on the ground and being held. One person, according to the lawsuit, told this to the officer who fired the shot, identified as Jason Valenzuela in the lawsuit,
Despite that, the lawsuit said, Valenzuela raised his gun and fired while standing in the street in front of the home.
“(He) aimed through the open front doorway into the occupied living room and fired approximately one second after shouting a command,” the lawsuit said.
Diaz bled out in front of his common-law wife, Mariana Gonzalez. The scene was described to The Republic in January by Lucio Rosas, who had helped Diaz hold down the armed intruder.
Gonzalez shouted, “You killed my husband. You killed the wrong person,” according to Rosas.
The Phoenix police chief apologized to the family a week after the shooting through a statement.
In April, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said she would not file criminal charges against Valenzuela. Mitchell said that it was a confusing scene and that the officer reasonably believed he needed to fire his weapon to end an imminent threat to others.
After the shooting, the lawsuit says, officers entered the home, pointed firearms four children and an adult son of Gonzalez.
An officer also pushed Gonzalez and tried to handcuff her, the lawsuit says. The suit does not detail how the handcuffing attempt ended.
The lawsuit was seeking damages for those people for infliction of emotional distress.
Gonzalez was Diaz’s domestic partner, at the time of the shooting, the lawsuit said.
At the time of the shooting, Diaz was married to Juana de Jesus Chupin Valencia, but was in the midst of divorce proceedings in Mexico. The lawsuit said it was not clear whether she would qualify as a surviving spouse.
The lawsuit said that there had been at least one similar incident in which a homeowner who had subdued a gunman was shot by Phoenix police. That should have provided notice that officers needed training to handle such situations, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also noted a Department of Justice investigation into the department’s practices that mentioned a “force first” culture.
The man accused of breaking into the home, Ledezma Garcia, was charged with a host of felonies, including first-degree murder for a death that took place during the commission of another crime.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Family of man mistakenly killed by Phoenix police files lawsuit
