Family of pregnant bystander killed in police chase brings lawsuit against Oklahoma City
An Oklahoma City woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, two years after her daughter died when a man fleeing police in a stolen pickup struck her vehicle at a high rate of speed.
Star Shells, a 28-year-old single mother who was pregnant with a son she named Elijah, died on the morning of May 24, 2021, when her white Chevy Impala was struck near Martin Luther King Avenue and NE 16.
Police were in pursuit of Wacey Gerron Mikles, now 40, who had previous felony convictions for bank robberies, grand larceny and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Mikles had stolen a black Ford F350 King Ranch pickup, according to authorities. Speeds reached 97 mph during the fatal pursuit by Oklahoma City police.
On Jan. 30 in Oklahoma County District Court, Mikles entered a negotiated plea of guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, larceny of an automobile, possession of methamphetamine, and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 10 years on probation, with the prison time running concurrently with a federal sentence.
A month earlier in federal court, Mikles was sentenced to eight years in prison for two Oklahoma City bank robberies to which he pleaded guilty.
The robberies occurred on May 18, 2021, and May 21, 2021, just days before Shells was struck and killed.
In a pre-sentencing letter to U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Goodwin, Mikles asked for mercy and wrote that mental illness, including hearing voices the past few years, played a role in his crimes.
“It contributed to my having robbed those banks and definitely was a main reason for the accident that ended the life of two very innocent people, which I will have to live with for the rest of my life,” Mikles wrote.
On May 24 in Oklahoma County District Court, Shells’ mother, Connie Basco, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
Basco is joined by a second plaintiff, Elijah Reeves, who is the father of Shells’ unborn son.
“The motor vehicle wreck was caused by (Oklahoma City Police Department) officers engaging in a negligent, grossly negligent, reckless and improper chase,” Basco alleges in the lawsuit. “OKCPD’s meaningless and stupid police chase was a violation of Star Shells’ and Elijah Reeves III’s fundamental due process right to life.”
A spokeswoman for Oklahoma City said the city cannot comment on current litigation.
Oklahoma City Police Department changes pursuit policy
An investigation by The Oklahoman revealed that in 2021 — the year Shells was killed — a majority of police pursuits started because of a traffic violation, a misdemeanor or suspicious behavior.
A quarter of the chases started because of felony crimes, but only 6.6% of chases started because of a violent felony.
In 2021, police pursuits resulted in 24 collisions, killing four, including three uninvolved citizens, police data showed. At the time, it was the deadliest year involving police pursuits in five years.
A little more than a year after Shells was killed, Police Chief Wade Gourley quietly announced changes to his department’s policy on vehicle chases in Oklahoma City.
Gourley previously told The Oklahoman part of the policy change was to better define risks versus rewards in determining whether to engage in a pursuit, with the goal of reducing harm to bystanders and property.
He called Shells’ death “tragic” and laid the blame on Mikles, while saying work to revamp pursuit policy had already begun.
One change to the policy calls for the termination of a pursuit when officers know of, and can access information from, a GPS tracking device on the vehicle.
The truck that struck Shells' Impala was equipped with such a device.
Other circumstances that call for the termination of a pursuit include when entering a school or construction zone where workers are present; adverse road conditions; pedestrian traffic; and when the suspect’s driving behavior includes excessive speeding, disregard for traffic control devices, driving into oncoming lanes of traffic or driving off-road.
Continued pursuit of a suspect when any of the above-listed provisions are met will require strong justification and the authorization of the managing supervisor. In these instances, the supervisor must be able to document specific facts that show the decision to continue pursuing was objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
For person crimes and DUIs, officers must terminate the pursuit if the subject's driving is so egregious it poses a danger or when a GPS tracking device is available.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Family of pregnant bystander killed in police chase files lawsuit
