Family sues Chandler over fatal police shooting of man in mental health crisis

The mother of a 27-year-old man who was shot and killed by Chandler police last year filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking more than $10 million in damages, alleging officers used excessive force against her son while he was experiencing an episode related to schizophrenia.

Kelly Vanessa Woods filed the complaint against the City of Chandler and the Chandler Police Department through Lento Law Group in U.S. District Court in Phoenix on behalf of her son, Messiah Deasure-Shamyl McMillian.

Officers responded to a call at an apartment complex near Commonwealth Avenue and Hamilton Street just after noon on March 20, 2025.

The lawsuit alleges Woods had told dispatchers her son suffered from schizophrenia, warned that an armed police response could escalate his condition and requested a mental health crisis team instead.

“I made a call to 911 that morning because I trusted them to protect and serve, and I wanted them to protect my son from himself,” Woods said at a news conference Wednesday.

Despite that notice, officers arrived without behavioral health professionals or crisis intervention clinicians, the suit says.

Police found McMillian shirtless, wearing only basketball shorts and socks, visibly distressed and holding a kitchen knife.

Attorney Nawal Ramay said police records indicated the knife was held very close to his chest and was pointed toward him rather than toward officers.

“There were no reports from residents of the apartment complex that Messiah was threatening anybody but himself,” attorney Rob MacTavish said, announcing the civil suit details.

Wrongful death suit lays out timeline of fatal Chandler PD shooting

From the moment officers announced their arrival to the first shot fired, 29 seconds elapsed, according to the complaint. One officer fired four times, striking McMillian multiple times.

Witnesses said McMillian was engaging in self-harm and was not threatening officers.

Ramay said the shooting officer acknowledged in a post-incident interview that he had read the dispatch comments while driving to the scene and was aware McMillian was having possible mental health issues.

It took 29 seconds to shoot him, and it took almost three minutes to even give him aid,” Ramay said.

The suit also alleges officers used a ballistic shield to approach McMillian after the shooting, despite no reports that he had a firearm

The complaint identifies the shooter as an officer-in-training who had been employed by the department for approximately four months.

The family’s attorneys say officers failed to attempt less-lethal alternatives, including Tasers or de-escalation techniques.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing.

The suit brings six counts, including negligence, wrongful death, excessive force under the Fourth Amendment and municipal liability.

Chandler police said at the time of the shooting that McMillian refused orders to drop the knife and ran toward an officer.

The City of Chandler declined comment.

“Due to pending litigation, we won’t be making statements about the case,” read the statement emailed to KTAR News 92.3 FM.

KTAR News reporter Balin Overstolz-McNair contributed to this report. 

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