No one pointed a gun at KCPD officer who shot 3 people last year, new lawsuit says

Another lawsuit has been filed against a Kansas City police officer who killed three people and faces several other allegations of excessive force.

Officer Blayne Newton shot three people in June 2023, killing two of them at the intersection near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard. A teenager shot in the head survived.

No one pointed a gun at Newton during the encounter, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit includes claims for wrongful death as well as a count of battery on behalf of the surviving victim, or in the alternative, a claim for negligence. It says the victims posed no threat to Newton and that the officer “used unreasonable force because the use of deadly force was not necessary in the circumstances.”

Newton remains on the patrol bureau, department spokesman Sergeant Phil DiMartino said Friday.

The KCPD generally does not comment on pending litigation, he said.

The Kansas City Law Enforcement Accountability Project supported the families of the victims of the triple shooting.

“Blayne Newton was allowed to destroy the lives of many people and he has not been held accountable,” said Steve Young, co-founder of KC LEAP.

“This is totally unacceptable. We look forward to the day when he no longer has a badge or a weapon.

Triple shot

On June 9, 2023, Newton was driving when he saw an altercation between two vehicles. A person sitting on the driver's side of a truck pointed a gun out the window at a white pickup truck and then fled.

Dashcam footage reviewed by The Star showed Newton, who was behind the truck, pulled up to the passenger side of the white van and opened fire. The van drove through the intersection before coming to a stop.

The front passenger, Marcell Nelson, 42, who was armed, died, according to attorney John Picerno, who filed the complaint. The driver, Kristen Fairchild, 42, was unarmed. She also died. A teenager sitting in the backseat was also struck. Two other minors sitting in the back were not injured.

Other officers called the scene a “shit show.” Another said: “You can't make this up.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the shooting. It closed its case Oct. 2 and sent it to the office of Jackson County Prosecutor Cpl. Justin Ewing, a spokesman for the patrol, said.

No action has yet been taken, according to Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

History of the use of force

Newton, who has been with the department since 2017, has previously faced allegations of excessive force.

A lawsuit filed earlier this year alleges he assaulted a woman at a Walmart in Platte County. Newton worked off-duty, but wore a Kansas City Police Department uniform and drove a department patrol vehicle.

Bermeeka Mitchell began live streaming an arrest when Newton allegedly “grabbed and twisted both of her arms forcefully,” according to her lawsuit, and placed the heel of his boot on her foot and crushed it.

According to court documents, the Kansas City Police Department's Community Complaints Office supported Mitchell's allegations of excessive force. A May 2023 letter from the OCC said disciplinary action had been taken, but it did not provide details.

On March 12, 2020, Newton shot and killed an unarmed 47-year-old man, Donnie Sanders, after a traffic stop near Prospect Avenue. A federal trial is still pending in Sanders' death.

Later that year, Newton was accused of placing his knee in the back of a nine-months pregnant woman during an arrest.

He was also one of three officers charged in connection with the beating and use of a stun gun by police on a teenager in 2019.

According to a review of records by The Star, the Kansas City Police Department paid out more than $6.8 million in settlements for incidents that included a police pursuit, false imprisonment and excessive use of force from February 2023 to February 2024.