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Wrongful death suit settled for KCPD officer accused of using excessive force

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By Caroline Zimmerman Updated September 30, 2025 11:28 AM

A lawsuit filed against a Kansas City police officer with multiple previous excessive force allegations was settled for $3.5 million Monday before going to trial. Kansas City police officer Blayne Newton shot and killed Marcell Nelson, 42, and Kristen Fairchild, 42, in June 2023 at an intersection near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard. Jaden Thorns was shot in the head during the incident and survived.

The lawsuit was filed by Thorns; Fairchild’s son, Clay Gardner; Fairchild’s wife, Julia Morrison; Nelson’s wife, Aide Nelson; and Nelson’s children, Dev’yon, Raheim and Nehmiah Nelson, according to a Jackson County court document.

The group’s attorney, John Picerno, told The Star in a text Monday that while they acknowledge the settlement “with appreciation,” it doesn’t compensate for the loss of Nelson and Fairchild at the hands of Newton, an officer previously involved in a fatal incident. “The plaintiffs were deeply disturbed to learn that the officer responsible had previously taken another life, and they all believe he should no longer serve in law enforcement. I am in agreement with my clients,” Picerno said.

Kansas City police declined to comment, saying “a final settlement has not been reached,” department spokesperson Sgt. Phillip DiMartino said in an email to The Star Monday.

On June 9, 2023, around 9 p.m., Newton was waiting in traffic at an intersection near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard when he noticed a pickup truck stopped in an area of the intersection where it was “kinda suspicious” for vehicles to stop, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Andrew Bell previously told The Star. Dash cam footage from Newton’s car revealed someone on the driver’s side of the truck pointed a firearm out the window toward a white van, occupied by Nelson, Fairchild, Thorns and two other juveniles. Nelson, who was in the passenger seat of the van, fired twice in self-defense before the truck drove away, according to the lawsuit. Newton then pulled up to the passenger side of the white van and immediately opened fire. The van rolled through the intersection before coming to a stop. The lawsuit says Nelson was not pointing or firing a weapon when Newton pulled up to the van.

Newton appeared to fire a total of 16 times, Picerno said in the lawsuit. Fairchild was in “a considerable amount of pain,” the lawsuit said, before she was pronounced dead an hour after the shooting at an area hospital. Nelson was “dragged from his seat to the ground,” according to the lawsuit, while officers attended to him. He died before reaching the hospital. The lawsuit says Thorns, who was handcuffed at the scene, suffered a graze wound to his forehead. The two other juveniles in the vehicle were uninjured. Nelson did not point a weapon at Newton during the encounter, according to the lawsuit.

Recordings from other officers called the scene a “shitshow.” In another recording detailed in the lawsuit, Newton’s acting major can be heard saying, “He’s not even supposed to be down here. This one is serious, Stacy don’t play. Do not know why he was here; he was cleared to get a paycheck. Can not make this shit up.” After learning the officer involved was Newton, another officer can be overheard saying, “Oh my God,” according to the lawsuit.

KCPD’s Notable Event Review Panel, which reviews officer actions and can issue policy or training recommendations for the department, made no training or policy recommendations following the shooting, according to records previously obtained by The Star. No criminal charges have been filed as a result of the shooting, and Blayne remains on the force.

Lasting impacts As a result of the incident, Thorns continues to struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression, Picerno said in the lawsuit. He reports experiencing disturbing memories and dreams surrounding the shooting, trouble sleeping and concentrating and often feels irritable and jumpy. “It be hard sometimes,” Thorns previously told The Star. “I can’t really sit there and talk about it like just freely you know without like breaking down or whatever, you know. I remember it like it was yesterday, you know, like I can say I still be having bad dreams about it. You know, it’d be keeping me up at night sometimes.” Nelson was Thorns’ uncle. After the incident, Thorns left Kansas City for several months, partly in an attempt to forget the incident.

Gardner, who had been living with mother at the time of the shooting, found himself without a place to live after the shooting. “I ended up homeless,” Gardner previously told The Star, “bouncing around, staying in all kinds of different places.” Gardner shares similar struggles as Thorns, including PTSD as a result of the incident and its aftermath, according to the lawsuit. He reports having frequent panic attacks, “which he drinks away, all due to his mother’s senseless death,” Picerno said in the lawsuit.

Newton previously accused of excessive force Newton, who has been with the department since 2017, has previously been accused of using excessive force at least four times. In February 2024, Lansing resident Bermeeka Mitchell sued Newton for assault and battery in Platte County Circuit Court after live-streaming her arrest at a Platte County Walmart in 2022. During the 2022 incident, an unknown person motioned toward Newton to arrest Mitchell for trespassing. Newton was working off-duty at the time, but was wearing a KCPD uniform and driving a KCPD patrol vehicle. Newton “grabbed and twisted both her arms in a forceful manner,” according to the lawsuit, and grinded the heel of his boot on Mitchell’s foot. KCPD’s office of community complaints sustained her allegations of excessive force. In a May 2023 letter, the office said disciplinary action was taken, but it’s unclear what that action entailed.

In March 2020, Newton shot and killed unarmed 47-year-old Donnie Sanders after a traffic stop near Prospect Avenue. Later that year, Newton was accused of placing his knee into the back of a 25-year-old woman who was nine months pregnant during an arrest.

In 2019, Newton allegedly beat and used a stun gun on a teenager, along with three other officers. Newton’s excessive force allegations have been brought up by concerned citizens in at least 5 Kansas City Police Department Board of Police Commissioner’s meetings since 2020, including one meeting on Oct. 27, 2020, in which the department revealed it received 15 emails calling for Newton’s removal from the police department.

KCPD has paid $6 million in lawsuits in 2025 Since 2021, nearly $20.8 million has been spent to resolve lawsuits filed against KCPD, according to previous reporting by The Star. In 2024, the department paid nearly $3 million in legal settlements. In June 2025, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners approved the payment of $6 million in legal settlements. Of all settlements, 17% are made up of excessive force lawsuits.

The Star’s Katie Moore, Matti Gellman, Bill Lukitsch, Anna Spoerre, Glenn E. Rice and Kennedy Sessions contributed reporting. This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM.