‘Nobody is above the rule of law’: KCPD officers convicted of assaulting trans woman

Two former Kansas City Police Department officers pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting a transgender woman.

Charles W. Prichard and Matthew G. Brummett each faced a felony third-degree assault charge for slamming Breona Hill’s head into the ground during a May 2019 arrest. A passerby captured video of the officers assaulting Hill and placing one of their knees on her neck.

“God help me,” Hill cried, according to court records.

The two former officers were sentenced to three years on probation. They are barred from carrying firearms and must surrender their police certifications.

Five months after the assault, Hill was found fatally shot after an argument.

David Smith, an attorney representing Rena Childs, Hill’s aunt, read a statement on behalf of the family during the hearing before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jalilah Otto.

Though Hill struggled with her gender identity, “her goodness shined through,” Smith said. She gave love to her family and to others in the community who felt misunderstood.

“Today is starting to smell like justice,” Smith continued. The family’s statement accused the police department of building a culture of excessive force and of engaging in a cover-up. Typically, police officers submit a probable cause statement to prosecutors for charges. But they refused to hand over the statement in this case.

“These acts did not happen in a vacuum,” Smith said.

In a statement, Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said the department attempted to obstruct justice.

“While time-served is our preference, acknowledgment of guilt and being barred from careers in law enforcement can serve as signals to officers on the force that perhaps the two-tiered justice system that they have long enjoyed may be coming to an end,” Grant said.

Kris Wade, with the Justice Project, said Hill had been a client with the organization. Hill was remembered as an intelligent and creative person with a wicked sense of humor.

Prosecuting the two officers showed that “justice can be for everyone,” Wade said.

‘Well overdue’

Roderick Reed recorded the assault. Outside the courtroom, Reed said if the footage had not existed, he did not think the case would have been prosecuted.

“It was well overdue,” he said of the convictions.

Both officers left the police department last December, though the circumstances were unclear. The pair have been accused of using excessive force in two other alleged incidents.

Interim police chief Joseph Mabin said in a statement that he expects officers to treat the people with dignity and respect.

“The officers’ actions that day did not meet those expectations,” Mabin said. “They were unacceptable, will not be condoned, and will not be tolerated.”

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said the case marks a measure of justice for the community.

“It also marks that statement that we hear a lot: that nobody, nobody is above the rule of law.”

Baker noted that Hill, as a Black transgender woman, was part of a particularly vulnerable community.

“I think far too often, people like Breona see the system actually working against them instead of for them. So I’m standing here for here. I wish she could be here today ... She deserved the protections of the system and she deserved fair and just treatment.”

Other KCPD officers prosecuted

Prichard and Brummett are the latest officers to face criminal prosecution.

In October, former KCPD Sgt. Matthew Neal was placed on four years probation after he pleaded guilty to smashing the face of a 15-year-old boy in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant on Troost Avenue in 2019.

As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Neal had to surrender his law enforcement license and write a letter of apology to the victim.

Former detective Eric J. DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison for the Dec. 3, 2019, shooting death of Cameron Lamb. DeValkenaere remains free on bond while he appeals the conviction.

One other KCPD officer currently faces criminal charges.

Officer Nicholas McQuillen is charged with a misdemeanor assault after he was seen in a viral video dousing a man and his teenage daughter with pepper spray at a protest at the Plaza in the summer of 2020.

McQuillen, who is currently assigned to the patrol division, is scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 12. Earlier this year, the police department paid $110,000 in a legal settlement to the teenage girl.