The Washington state Office of Independent Investigations has recommended reopening the case of Leonard Thomas, who was shot by Lakewood police officers in 2013 while holding his 4-year-old son. This development comes twelve years after a civil jury awarded Thomas’s family $15 million in damages, making it one of the largest wrongful-death verdicts involving police in the state’s history.
Annalesa Thomas, the victim’s mother, expressed relief at the prospect of renewed scrutiny, emphasizing that the case deserves another examination. The OII, formed to independently investigate police-related deaths, identified new material evidence that may challenge the original conclusion drawn in 2013, when officers were deemed to have acted lawfully. The involvement of retired Judge William Downing, an experienced former prosecutor, adds weight to the OII’s findings, signaling a significant potential shift in the case’s narrative.
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