“They treated him like a caged animal, shot him and left him basically to die,” the victim’s mother said, claiming that her son was shot by police while lying in bed.
The family of a 30-year-old man who was shot by suburban Chicago law enforcement has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that officers killed Isaac Goodlow III while he was lying in bed.
According to The Associated Press, the lawsuit was filed earlier this week on behalf of Goodlow’s two sisters, Kyenna McConico and Kennetha Barnes. In their complaint, the women claim that Carol Stream Police Department officers—listed as John Does 1 through 6—used excessive and lethal force when investigating a report of domestic violence on February 3, 2024.
“He was shot dead in cold blood in the sanctity of his own bedroom,” the lawsuit alleges. “Worse, Isaac was murdered by one or more [of the defendants].”
Attorneys for the family say that the Carol Stream Police Department has a history of conducting illegal raids and using excessive force against suspects, with the lawsuit noting that three similar claims have been filed against local law enforcement between 2003 and 2019.
Shortly after the shooting, the Carol Stream Police Department uploaded a statement to their Facebook page, saying that its officers had “encountered a tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situation, which resulted in officers discharging their weapons at the alleged domestic violence suspect.”
However, the plaintiffs and their attorney claim that Goodlow was alone and in bed when officers entered his unit at Villagebrook Apartments and “bust open his bedroom door,” shooting him before he had time to react.
“We want justice, because we know he didn’t have anything to harm them for them to feel threatened for them to shoot him down like that,” McConico said earlier this month.
Barnes said that her brother had a mental illness, and suggested that officers could likely have resolved the situation without the need for a late-night raid.
“They could’ve went about that a different way,” Barnes said. “He also had a mental illness. They need to know this. They need to treat him different.”
“Isaac Goodlow was shot directly in the heart,” said attorney Andrew M. Stroth, who is representing McConico and Barnes.
Goodlow’s relatives had earlier condemned the shooting, with his mother—Bonnie Pigram—saying that officers “shot him down like a dog.”
“They treated him like a caged animal, shot him and left him basically to die,” Pigram said. “He didn’t cause any harm or destruction to nobody. If he wasn’t chilling at his own house, he was spending time with family. That’s the kind of person he was.”
Lavashia Pigram, Goodlow’s cousin, said that Isaac had no apparent history of acting violently.
“He’s not a violent person,” she said. “He’s never been a violent person.”
Attorneys for McConico and Barnes have asked that Carol Stream Police release footage from the officers’ body-cameras.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.
Sources
Carol Stream police shoot, kill man while responding to domestic violence call; family seeks justice
Family of man killed by Carol Stream police files lawsuit
Family of man killed in Carol Stream police shooting files lawsuit
Police in suburban Chicago are sued over a fatal shooting of a man in his home
‘They shot my son down like he was a dog,’ says mother of man killed by Carol Stream police
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