{"id":1872,"date":"2026-06-11T12:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1872"},"modified":"2026-06-11T12:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T12:34:05","slug":"mother-sues-chandler-over-police-shooting-that-left-mentally-ill-man-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1872","title":{"rendered":"Mother sues Chandler over police shooting that left mentally ill man dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CHANDLER, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The mother of a man she said had schizophrenia and who was having a mental health crisis when he was shot by police officers last year has filed a lawsuit against the city of Chandler and the Chandler Police Department.<\/p>\n

Read more Sahuarita detective enters guilty plea following gun range incident<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelly Woods\u2019 attorneys said during a news conference Wednesday that she told dispatchers that her son, Messiah Deasure-Shamyl McMillian, was struggling mentally, and armed police would only make things worse when she called 911 on March 20, 2025. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she called 911, she was very careful to let the dispatch operator know of Messiah\u2019s mental health conditions. And she specifically requested a crisis response team trained to deal with mental health patients,\u201d attorney Rob MacTavish said.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit said police showed up with guns on Commonwealth Avenue, south of Chandler Boulevard, and east of Arizona Avenue around 12:15 p.m. without crisis workers or behavioral health support.<\/p>\n

McMillian was shirtless and barefoot, visibly having a psychological breakdown and holding a kitchen knife that witnesses said he was using on himself, the court paperwork said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat followed was a tragic event that was completely avoidable,\u201d MacTavish said.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges officers immediately shouted commands within seconds of arriving, increasing tensions with McMillian and did not try any less-lethal moves, including stun guns, distance tactics or crisis intervention. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey responded as if this were a run-of-the-mill domestic dispute response,\u201d MacTavish said. \u201cThey failed to pursue any non-escalatory options, such as standing back, establishing a perimeter to make sure all the residents of the apartment complex were safe, and calling for a mental health crisis response team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers said they told McMillian to drop the knife but he did not and ran toward an officer while holding the knife. That\u2019s when the officer shot McMillian. MacTavish said only 29 seconds went by between first contact and gunfire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey set in motion a chain of events that became uncontrollable, and they were responsible for doing that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy son didn\u2019t deserve that. I want to see justice for my son,\u201d Woods said. \u201cAnd I want to see policy and protocol changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Arizona man convicted of threatening to kill President Trump, Kamala Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

MacTavish said the officer who shot McMillian, Officer Gressley, was an officer-in-training and had only been on the job for four months. Woods\u2019 attorneys said it was negligent to send an inexperienced officer to a psychiatric emergency.<\/p>\n

While witnesses said McMillian was harming himself and not threatening officers, the detective\u2019s narrative said he was \u201cthreatening himself and others,\u201d which the lawsuit says is inconsistent with what happened.<\/p>\n

Officers are also accused of not giving McMillian life-saving help quickly enough. MacTavish said it took officers nearly three minutes to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey opted to approach him using a ballistic shield, even though nobody ever saw Messiah with a gun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Video reportedly shows McMillian bleeding extensively while officers only started CPR after he stopped moving and no paramedics were in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing can bring back Ms. Woods\u2019 son. However, we do seek accountability for the responsible authorities,\u201d MacTavish said.<\/p>\n

MacTavish said his team has requested the body camera video from police, but the request has been denied.<\/p>\n

Woods said the past 15 months have been extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy three other kids and my grandkids suffer because I\u2019m not a 100% no more,\u201d she said. \u201cHe made some mistakes a long way, but he was a good kid. He really was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods is seeking $10 million in damages, plus attorneys\u2019 fees and a jury trial.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Arizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mother says she begged for mental health help for her son in Chandler last year but officers escalated a crisis and opened fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMother sues Chandler over police shooting that left mentally ill man dead - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1872\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mother sues Chandler over police shooting that left mentally ill man dead - 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