City of Seattle reaches $3.5 million settlement with family of Charleena Lyles

SEATTLE — The city of Seattle reached a $3.5 million settlement with the family of Charleena Lyles, who was shot and killed by SPD officers in 2017.

Lyles, 30-year-old pregnant mother of four, had called police to report a burglary at her apartment in June 2017. Officers say that when they arrived, she lunged at them with a knife. Family members have insisted that Lyles had mental health problems and that police failed to de-escalate the situation before opening fire.

The wrongful death lawsuit was supposed to go to trial in February 2022, but the two sides agreed to a settlement Monday night.

In a statement the city says, in part, “It is indisputable that this has been a tragedy, and we are glad to have some level of closure for the parties.”

The lawsuit against the officers involved had initially been dismissed by former King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector on Jan. 4, 2019. The matter went up on appeal, was reversed on Feb. 16, 2021, and remanded back to Superior Court for a Feb. 7, 2022, trial date.

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