Lawsuit from Raleigh police killing of Soheil Mojarrad settled for $1.25 million

The city of Raleigh paid $1.25 million to the family of a man shot and killed by a Raleigh police officer in 2019, according to a federal lawsuit settlement agreement.

Soheil Mojarrad’s killing sparked protests at City Council meetings and led Raleigh police to change their body camera policy.

The settlement agreement, signed on Aug. 9, states that the city and and the officer who shot Mojarrad deny all alleged wrongdoing.

The family of Mojarrad, a 30-year-old man killed in April 2019, filed a lawsuit against the city of Raleigh, the officer who shot Mojarrad, then Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown and the then City Manager Ruffin Hall in 2020. Over time only Edwards remained a defendant.

Mojarrad had taken a phone plugged into a wall at a convenience store, court records say. After pursuing him, Officer William Brett Edwards shot Mojarrad six to eight times, claiming Mojarrad moved toward him multiple times with a folding knife while screaming obscenities.

The lawsuit contends Mojarrad didn’t have a knife in his hand when he was shot by Edwards.

Officer Edwards decided to settle out of court two days before the parties were scheduled to go to trial, said attorney Cate Edwards, who represents Mojarrad’s family.

“We hope that this settlement by this city allows the Raleigh Police Department to take a hard look at the way its training its police officers and that it keeps other citizens of Raleigh safe going forward,” the attorney said.



Officer Edwards, hired by Raleigh police in 2000, was negligent in his failure to turn on his body camera and unjustified in his use of lethal force with a person who had a history of mental illness, the lawsuit contended.

It also contends Edwards “unnecessarily and unjustifiably” used deadly force against Mojarrad resulting in his wrongful death and in violation of his civil rights.

The lawsuit claims that Edwards’ actions violated Raleigh police policies and his training was “woefully inadequate.”

The “policies, practices and customs” fostered by the then police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown sanctioned excessive use of force by officers, the lawsuit states.

They created a serious risk that “Defendant Edwards’s misconduct would occur and were a driving force behind that misconduct,” the lawsuit states. Neither the city nor the family’s attorney announced the settlement, which The News & Observer confirmed with city officials on Thursday.

The State Bureau of Investigation reviewed the shooting and District Attorney Lorrin Freeman found no evidence to support criminal charges.

More than money

The settlement agreement suggests that the family received more than money. It states that after the case was settled, attorneys for Edwards and the city planned to meet with Police Chief Estella Patterson to discuss a list of proposals related to the city’s de-escalation training.

The agreement states that the city had already planned to provide mandatory training to all officers regarding the city’s de-escalation policy.

Mojarrad grew up in the Raleigh area and did design work for real estate companies and worked in local restaurants, the lawsuit states.

In 2012, Mojarrad was hit by a vehicle in Asheville, which caused a traumatic brain injury, according to the lawsuit. He later lived with seizures, along with heightened anxiety, fearfulness and memory loss.

His mental health caused him to occasionally display “abnormal, but nonviolent” behaviors, the lawsuit states, and as a result he was known to the Raleigh Police Department.

Mojarrad first encountered Edwards at a Sheetz gas station on New Bern Avenue around 8:20 p.m. on April 20, 2019, the lawsuit states.

Mojarrad took someone’s cell phone that was plugged in at the gas station and left on foot.

Edwards’ shift had just begun and was at the gas station filling up his patrol car when a Sheetz employee and customer approached him about the stolen cell phone.

Meanwhile, a Sheetz employee called 911 about a trespasser at the location, according to 911 calls.

“The dispatcher said Mr. Mojarrad was unarmed and not violent,” the lawsuit states.

Edwards got into his patrol car and eventually found Mojarrad sitting on a bench outside Overtime Sports Pub, the lawsuit states.

As Edwards parked his car, Mojarrad walked away. Edwards began running toward Mojarrad, the lawsuit claims.

A fatal encounter

Edwards claims that Mojarrad pulled a knife from his pocket and began threatening the officer, whose backup had not arrived.

Edwards indicated that Mojarrad was 20 feet away from him, the lawsuit claims. Edwards emptied one of his gun’s magazine’s and then fired some additional shots from another.

He fired a total of 11 shots, eight of which hit Mojarrad, the lawsuit claims. Mojarrad collapsed into a grassy area and was dead by the time another officer arrived.

But the lawsuit contends that Mojarrad didn’t have a knife in his hand when he was shot. A knife was found in Mojarrad’s open palm, but no DNA or fingerprint evidence confirmed that he handled it, the lawsuit states.

“Even if Mr. Mojarrad had had a knife in his hand, he was not at a distance that he could have used it to exert serious bodily injury or deadly force,” he lawsuit states.

In addition, Mojarrad was trying to run from Edwards, not threatening him, the lawsuit claims.

A report released by Freeman tells a different story.

That report, which is based on Edward’s statements, says that during the encounter Mojarrad pulled a knife out of his pocket with his right hand and flicked the blade open.

Mojarrad continued to scream at Edwards and stepped toward the officer with the knife, the report said Edwards stated.

Edwards stated he fired two rounds, and Mojarrad reacted as though he had been hit but remained on his feet with the knife coming toward the officer, the report stated.

The report noted that two of the gunshot wounds appeared to be exit wounds, meaning he was actually shot six times.

‘Very contentious’ case

Edwards, the Mojarrads’ attorney in the case, described the case as unique for being “very contentious”. There was no police body camera footage, typical to many of the police use-of-force cases she worked on previously, she said.

“Our client wasn’t alive to tell his side of the story,” Cate Edwards said in an interview. “It made the case really, really emotional and difficult for that reason.”

The case settled in June, but finalizing the settlement’s paperwork took months, she said.

“We feel it was an indication of the city trying to do right by this family who lost a bright young man due to excessive force used by one of its police officers,” said Cate Edwards, who is not related to the police officer. “The use of force was excessive and other deescalation tactics would have been effective and prevented an unnecessary death.”

Raleigh spokesperson Julia Milstead declined to comment on the settlement.

The city paid $1 million of the settlement through its self-insured program and the additional money was paid through its excess insurance carries, Milstead wrote in an email.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information is available.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.