City settles lawsuit in shooting death of Stavian Rodriguez

-- Lawsuit for death from police gunfire five years ago finally settled for $875,000

OKLAHOMA CITY — The federal lawsuit against the City of Oklahoma City in the police shooting death of 15-year-old Stavian Rodriguez was settled Tuesday when the Oklahoma City Council voted to pay the family $875,000.

The vote of the Council was 5-3 in favor of the settlement once they returned from the executive session.

In the settlement, the city “does not admit liability” in the case but agrees to the judgment of the $875K.

Rodriguez was shot by the officers at the end of a botched robbery of a Southside convenience store on the night of November 23, 2020.

His accomplice, Wyatt Cheatham, then 16 years old, was not injured and was arrested later.

The mother of Rodriguez, Cameo Holland, then filed suit against the City of Oklahoma City in December 2020 including the five officers and the chief at the time, Chief Wade Gourley.

Then, the City of Oklahoma City voted in July of 2021 to allocate $100,000 to hire outside legal counsel to defend the city against the lawsuit.

Shot 13 times

The youth was shot by five Oklahoma City Police officers after he had surrendered, laid down his gun, and then reached to the waistband of his pants.

At the scene, an immediate search of the body showed that he did not have any other weapon but the one that he laid down before the shooting.

An autopsy later showed that Rodriguez had been shot 13 times spanning from his head to his feet.

Felony charges against officers, then a dismissal

In March of 2021, then Oklahoma County DA David Prater charged each of the five officers with the felony of Manslaughter in the First Degree.

Here is our story at the time which includes videos of body cameras worn by the five officers:

The arrest affidavit said that the five “willfully, unlawfully, and unnecessarily killed Stavian Rodriguez, by shooting him with a firearm, while resisting an attempt by the deceased to commit a crime or after such attempt had failed …,” causing his death.

But, when Vicki Behenna was elected as the new DA in 2023, she chose to drop all charges against the officers as well as officers in other unrelated shootings that former DA Prater had charged.


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Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.