Atlanta (AP) – the family of a homeless man who died after a bulldozer crushed his tent during a laying camp, judges the city of Atlanta on Friday because of his death, calling him “tragic and preventing.”
The case brought by Cornelius Taylor’s sister and son claims that city officials have not been able to see if there is anyone in the tents in the camp before using a bulldozer to clean it. The 46 -year -old Taylor was inside one of the tents and was crushed by the truck when his tent was flattened, the lawsuit said.
City authorities called for the clearing of the camp in preparation for the holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. The camp was blocks of the Baptist Church of Ebenezer, where King preached. Later, an autopsy report revealed that Taylor’s Thai bone had been broken and that he had suffered organ damage and internal bleeding.
“A tent that was occupied by a human being was crushed by this heavy equipment. This is obviously wrong,” said lawyer Harold Spence. “Nobody looked inside the tent, and if someone who looked inside had taken 10 seconds to do it, this tragedy could have been prevented. And if you don’t know what’s inside, don’t crush it.”
The court proceedings brought to the State Court of Fulton County requests a court process of jurors and seeks unspecified benefits, as well as repayment of medical expenses, funeral expenses and legal fees. It was filed against the city and seven without the name of city officials, including the Bulldozer driver.
A spokesman for Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement “The incident with the participation of G -n Taylor is a tragedy”, but that he cannot comment on pending litigation.
The US Supreme Court ruled last year that cities across the country may impose a ban on homeless campsite. But the cleaners are controversial.
Taylor’s death has caused outrage among the local defenders and neighbors of the camp, who called on the city’s policies to clear the camps deeply non -human. They said that the city was facing a terrible shortage of housing, which inevitably makes people end up living on the street. Family attorneys define the case as a call to the city leaders to treat homeless people as deserving “respect and dignity” instead of rushing to clear their communities “as if they are invisible.”
City authorities said they were doing this. Immediately after Taylor’s death, the city put a temporary moratorium on the camp. As the FIFA World Cup has come to Atlanta next year, the city has since resumed the clearing of camps with the controversial purpose of eliminating all homelessness in the city center before.
Last week, the city closed the camp where Taylor lived and said the employees coordinated for the local non -profit purpose, which runs urban services for homelessness to offer people living there, supporting services.
The lawyers said they were grateful for the efforts of the city, but more work was needed. Members of the Cornelius Taylor Justice Coalition said they were still paying for hotel rooms for eight former camp residents. Taylor’s lawyers and family called on the Dickens administration to cut bureaucracy, as documents and help others receive a home.
Taylor’s sister Darlin Shani was torn during a Friday’s press conference, where lawyers announced the lawsuit as she fits back into the descriptions of the terrible injuries that her brother suffered.
She said that Taylor loves to read everything from science fiction to the Bible. He was eager to leave the camp to restore his life, and remained positive for his future, even as barriers like receiving his identification slowing down the process, she said. She misses his “annoying” weekly calls – and said there is only one brother to annoy her now. She is missing two.
“We are here just because someone, in my personal opinion, was lazy,” Chani said.
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