Jurors see footage of Jackson County deputy shooting that killed man, injured woman
Jurors heard opening statements Wednesday in a civil case filed after a Jackson County deputy killed a man and injured a woman in a 2019 shooting.
The trial began Monday with jury selection at the Jackson County courthouse in Independence.
On Wednesday, Tom Porto, an attorney for the plaintiffs, played a Ring doorbell video showing the Sept. 12, 2019, encounter in Independence.
Allen Cates, 29, was in the driver’s seat of a parked car and Randi McGaugh was in the front passenger’s seat.
Jackson County Deputy Tyler Naudet and several Independence Police Department officers arrived at East 25th Street and Hawthorne Avenue to take Cates into custody on a felony warrant. He was a suspect in a series of car break-ins.
The officers exited their patrol vehicle and Cates’ vehicle began to roll back. Naudet fired five times as the car began moving forward. Cates was struck multiple times and died at the scene. McGaugh was hit in her shoulder and back, according to court documents.
She filed a battery and wrongful death lawsuit against Naudet and Jackson County in July 2020.
The lawsuit said neither Cates or McGaugh pointed a weapon at the officers.
As the video played in court, McGaugh broke down in tears.
Porto told jurors that an officer can only use deadly force as a last resort and that when an innocent bystander is harmed, the officer is liable.
Naudet was the only officer to fire. Porto said other officers chose not to because they knew there was another occupant, because they moved out of the way of the car and because there were several officers in close proximity.
Porto questioned why Naudet shot at Cates and McGaugh when he could have tried to get out of the way of the vehicle instead. He also said Naudet’s role in the arrest was to intervene if Cates fled on foot and that “he did not obey his instructions.”
Jurors looked on as several photos of Cates with his two young sons were displayed on large boards. Porto concluded by telling the jurors he will ask them to find that Naudet acted with reckless disregard with an intent to harm.
Amanda Langenheim, an attorney for Naudet, told jurors that there was no denying there was a tragedy on Sept. 12, 2019. But, she said, just because there was a tragedy doesn’t mean Naudet, who was 26 at the time, acted wrongly.
It was supposed to be a simple felony apprehension, she said, but it didn’t turn out that way because of how Cates reacted. According to Langenheim, officers were yelling commands at Cates, who put the car in drive and headed “directly” towards Naudet.
He fired not out of spite but out of fear for his own life, she said, adding that “this all occurs in a matter of seconds.”
Langenheim also said Naudet did not see McGaugh because she was crouching down in the front seat. She acknowledged that McGaugh had turned her life around in the years since the shooting, but at the time, McGaugh chose to get in the car with Cates, who was allegedly going to a house to sell drugs.
Naudet showed little emotion during opening statements. He remains employed with the sheriff’s office.
Naudet, McGaugh and Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté are expected to testify, among several other witnesses and experts.
