Settlement reached for woman killed by Clovis police, attorney says. She was unarmed
The city of Clovis has agreed to pay almost $2 million to settle a wrongful death case over a woman who died from use-of-force by police, the family’s attorney said.
Isabel De La Torre died during her interaction with Clovis police on March 26, 2022, after she was subjected to K-9 dog bites and was unable to breathe under the pressure of multiple officers, according to a death certificate provided by family attorney Edgar Flores.
Attorney Kevin Little announced the $1.9 million settlement with Clovis on Monday in a news release.
“A pathologist concluded that the officers’ use of force was the sole reason for Isabel’s death,” the release said. “She was only 35 years old at the time of her death. She is loved and missed by many.”
A copy of De La Torre’s death certificate was provided by an attorney when the lawsuit was first announced back in June , and it lists “positional and compressional asphyxia,” “prone restraint,” and “homicide” by law enforcement as immediate causes of death.
The news release on Monday from Little said the Clovis Police Department released an edited and misleading video that only shows a portion of the arrest, excluding parts that showed how unnecessary the force was.
She was unarmed and not a threat to police, De La Torre family attorney Flores said when announcing the lawsuit.
De La Torre’s partner had called 911 because she was unconscious on the night of the incident, and then hung up during the call because De La Torre woke up, Flores previously said.
Along with the release, Little included a portion of the video and commentary. Script in the video says police called for the K-9 unit within 2 minutes and 30 seconds of arriving, and De La Torre was no longer breathing after 17 minutes.
Once De La Torre was motionless, an officer asked her if she was OK. Her last word was “No,” the release said.
The De La Torre family was expected to comment on the decision on Tuesday, their attorney said on Monday.
The Clovis Police Department did not immediately provide a comment on Monday.
Clovis police previously said a 911 call came in just before midnight on the day of the incident from an apartment complex on the 200 block of West Alamos Avenue, requesting help with an adult there who was “acting erratically.”
Police also said the dispatcher could hear a disturbance in the background of the call, and said De La Torre charged officers when they arrived.
Emergency personnel attempted life saving efforts. De La Torre was stabilized before she was transported, police have said.
