by Karla Ciaglo
HARTFORD, CT — The family of Everard Walker will file a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Hartford and the Hartford Police Department if officials do not respond within 30 days, their attorney said Wednesday, following the fatal shooting of the 53-year-old during a response to a 211 mental health call.
“We want to talk to the city of Hartford within the next 30 days,” attorney Ken Krayeske said. “And if they don’t get back to us in 30 days, then we’re filing.”
Krayeske said the family intends to pursue civil claims under Connecticut’s Police Accountability Act, which allows lawsuits against officers and municipalities in certain cases involving alleged excessive force or constitutional violations.
Everard Walker Credit: Contributed
Walker was shot Feb. 19 inside his third-floor apartment after a family member contacted Connecticut’s 211 crisis line seeking assistance. According to a preliminary report released by Inspector General Eliot D. Prescott, the caller reported Walker was experiencing an “acute mental health crisis.” Two clinicians from the Capitol Region Mental Health Center requested police accompany them.
The Inspector General’s report states officers initially entered and later reentered the apartment shortly before 11 a.m. after Walker attempted to close the door while being restrained by his son. During a struggle in the doorway, Walker raised a knife and appeared poised to stab Officer Geovanny Rivera, who had fallen backward, the report states. Officer Alexander Clifford then fired multiple shots.
Video clips and still images released by the Connecticut Office of Inspector General appear to show Walker raising the knife during the altercation.
Walker was transported to Saint Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined he died from gunshot wounds to the torso, neck and right upper extremity. The death was ruled a homicide. Toxicology results are pending.
Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert said the officers involved were placed on administrative leave while the Inspector General investigates whether the use of deadly force was justified under state law, though no other comment was provided.
Krayeske disputed the characterization of the encounter as a crisis and said the family repeatedly told 211 that Walker was not dangerous.
“He had run out of medication. He wasn’t taking his meds. And after a lot of deliberation, the family decided to call 211,” Krayeske said. “It wasn’t a crisis. They repeated to 211 that (Walker) is not dangerous to the community or dangerous to himself.”
Krayeske questioned how what he described as a limited mental health response expanded into a larger police presence.
“How does it go from having two social workers with two police officers to 11 police officers barging into his house and killing him?” he said.
He also criticized the inspector general’s release of still images showing Walker holding what he described as a small pocket knife.
“The Office of Inspector General publishes a sensational image of Everard with his ratchet,” he said. “Every Jamaican man carries a ratchet — it’s like a four-inch pocket knife. But they don’t talk about how police screwed this up by taking over command from social workers.”
Walker had been with his partner and common-law wife, Linda Gray, for 29 years, Krayeske said. Together they raised six children — three stepdaughters and three biological. Krayeske added that Walker had been involuntarily hospitalized last fall following a psychotic episode linked to a “laced cigarette,” causing him to miss the death and funeral of a 29-year-old stepdaughter who died of pineoblastoma.
The shooting unfolded in front of family members. Walker’s daughter, Nzinga, and his son, Jahdayne, who had initially made the 211 call, were both restrained by police as they witnessed the shooting, while Gray stood in the hallway and saw officers discharge their weapons, Krayeske said.
Gray said the family had sought medical help, not law enforcement intervention.
“We just wanted help,” Gray said. “We wanted an evaluation. We did not call police. We wanted a doctor.”
The case has sparked public protests and calls for transparency, with Hartford-area advocacy groups — including BLM860, New Britain Racial Justice Coalition, Muslim Justice League, PowerUp CT, CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition, and Kamora’s Cultural Corner — rallying over the weekend to criticize police involvement.
“This was a call for help — not a call for execution,” a joint statement read. “A family reached out for assistance during a mental health crisis, trusting that their loved one would receive care. Instead, he was met with deadly force. This is a profound failure of our emergency response system, and our community deserves answers.”
Krayeske said the case raises broader concerns about public trust in Connecticut’s crisis response system.
“How does a 211 call end up in a barrage of bullets?” he said. “Who is going to trust 211?”
A spokesperson for Mayor Arunan Arulampalam did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Capitol Region Mental Health Center also did not return a request for comment.
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