Kansas stand your ground law cited in lack of charges in teen’s death

A Kansas district attorney declined to file criminal charges in the case of the death of a Black teenager who died after being restrained face down for more than half an hour during a physical struggle with the staff of a juvenile center, The Associated Press reports.

District Attorney Marc Bennett (R) said that the staff were protecting themselves from 17-year-old Cedric Lofton under a Kansas “stand-your-ground” law that gives victims no obligation to retreat if they are attacked.

Bennet said he wrestled with his decision but that “a judge would be duty bound to dismiss the case” because of the law if he charged the staff members.

Lofton’s family responded by calling the situation “yet another instance of an unarmed Black teenager killed by law enforcement with impunity, threat of reprisal or even an ounce of accountability.”

The Wichita Police Department released body camera footage Tuesday after being asked to do so by Lofton’s brother Marquan Teetz, a local pastor and others.

Bennett found that Lofton was experiencing a mental health crisis and was taken by police to seek treatment. Lofton’s foster family said that he had recently been paranoid and sometimes hallucinated.

Lofton resisted police officers, assaulting one, before being taken to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.

Lofton was told by an intake specialist that he would be released but was then put back into the cell by a security officer. Lofton hit the intake specialist while resisting security.

Bennett found that staff put Lofton on his stomach handcuffed and shackled by his ankles. Staff realized he was dead and called the police shortly after.

Bennett claimed that the case brought up legitimate policy questions, such as whether Lofton should have been taken to a mental health facility and whether the use of restraint was justifiable, but that criminal charges were not in order under current Kansas law.

“This should never have happened,” said Bennett. “It should never happen again.”