City of Tyler agrees to pay $300,000 in settlement regarding lawsuit alleging wrongful death of

[TexasTowelie]

City of Tyler agrees to pay $300,000 in settlement regarding lawsuit alleging wrongful death of Smith County inmate


The city of Tyler will pay a $300,000 settlement in connection with a lawsuit alleging Tyler and Smith County law enforcement’s actions led to the death of a woman’s son.

Teddy Wayne Parker, 32, of Whitehouse, died May 16, 2017, after he became unresponsive at the Smith County Jail and was ultimately removed from a ventilator at East Texas Medical Center (now UT Health East Texas).

Parker was arrested on May 14, 2017, for public intoxication and taken to the jail by Tyler police officers. At the time of the arrest, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said Parker was combative. Deputies helped Tyler police officers get Parker into the jail, Smith said.

In the civil lawsuit, Christine Parker v. the city of Tyler and Smith County, Teddy Parker’s mother, Christine Parker, alleges the officers and deputies involved used excessive force against her son. She claims he was suffocated. She also made claims against the individual Tyler police officers and sheriff’s office deputies.

Read more: https://tylerpaper.com/news/crime/city-of-tyler-agrees-to-pay-300-000-in-settlement-regarding-lawsuit-alleging-wrongful-death/article_3a2fca80-40a0-11eb-8b40-7f6c965e928a.html