A mother's lawsuit says police stood by for 13 minutes as her 30-year-old son drowned in the Tennessee River

    KNOXVILLE, TN, December 22, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A mother is suing the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, the city's police chief and four officers, alleging police stood by for 13 minutes as her 30-year-old son drowned in a river last year.

Kimberly Williams-Clabo claims in the suit that police – who had responded to calls that her son, Mika Wheeler Clabo, was "acting erratically" – also prohibited private citizens from trying to rescue him from the Tennessee River.

"Mika deserved better that day," said Lance Baker, the family's attorney. "He deserved officers that operated like first responders and what he received were officers that operated like bystanders."

The wrongful death suit was filed Tuesday in US District Court, one year after Clabo's death.

Clabo's mother, Kimberly Williams-Clabo, accuses the four officers of negligence and depriving her son of his rights — in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment — by not making an effort to save him despite knowing his life was at risk.

She's filed her lawsuit against the City of Knoxville, Knoxville Chief of Police Paul Noel, the four officers and other defendants not identified in the complaint.

Williams-Clabo seeks $4 million in damages and demands a 12-person jury trial, the complaint shows.

You can learn more @ The Baker Law Firm - attorney Lance Baker is a premier Civil Rights & Criminal Defense lawyer in Knoxville, TN.

The Baker Law Firm
800 S. Gay Street, Suite 1950
Knoxville, TN 37929
www.lbakerlawfirm.com

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