Family speaks out about $2.2 million jury award in LAPD shooting

PACOIMA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A father is speaking out after a civil jury decided that an LAPD officer used excessive force in killing his son and awarded the family $2.2 million.

"If proper procedures had been followed he would still be living," says Greg Eaddy about his 25-year old son Christian.

Investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department and the LA District Attorney's office concluded that "the officer acted in self-defense and in defense of others," according to a DA memo.

There were conflicting accounts of what happened in the family's Pacoima driveway on that day in 2013. Christian's cousin called 911 reporting that Christian was sticking himself with syringes, drawing blood, then got kitchen knives and was striking them against metal poles with several family members steps away.

They said Christian was upset and arguing with his mother.

"He just got the knives, he was just like a bad little boy playing," says Mary Propps, Christian's grandmother.

The Eaddy family's lawyers say it is alarming is how quickly one officer reacted with lethal force.

"From the broadcast that they are at the scene till the broadcast that shots had been fired, it occurred in 40 seconds," said attorney John Ring.

Christian Eaddy was 6 feet tall and weighed 300 pounds. Officers say he charged them holding two kitchen knives.

What officers did not know was that Eaddy was brain-damaged after he had been hit by a car when he was 4.

"His mind was no older than a 10-year-old," his grandmother said.

The family lawyers say the officers should have stepped back and de-escalated the confrontation.

The lawyers also raised questions about the knives. If Eaddy had them in his hands when he was shot, they say they would have fallen on the ground where he collapsed.

Yet in trial, there was only evidence that the knives were in a shopping cart.

"Christian Eaddy was shot with nothing in his hands," lawyer John Taylor said.

LAPD said in a statement: "The department is very disappointed in the jury's decision in this matter."

There will be no payout of the $2.2 million award to the family any time soon. The family's lawyers believe the City Attorney will appeal the judgment.