A King County Superior Court jury returned a $30.5 million verdict on January 29, 2026, against the City of Seattle in a wrongful death and negligence action brought by Antonio Mays Sr. on behalf of the estate of his son, Antonio Mays Jr [1]. Mays Jr., 16 years old, was shot and killed inside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone in June 2020 [1]. The case centered on whether Seattle's decision to withdraw police and emergency services from the self-declared autonomous zone created the conditions that caused the teenager's death. The claim survived to trial on theories of wrongful death, negligence, and municipal liability for the failure to provide emergency services [1].
At trial, the jury concluded that the city's withdrawal from the CHOP zone, and its consequent failure to dispatch timely emergency services to the scene, was causally linked to Mays Jr.'s death [1]. The verdict, totaling $30.5 million in compensatory damages, was characterized as the largest in Seattle's history [1]. No punitive component was included in the award.
Following the verdict, the City of Seattle filed post-trial motions challenging the result [1]. Judge Sean P. O'Donnell denied those motions in April 2026, leaving the jury's award intact [1]. The ruling foreclosed any trial-court avenue for the city to set aside or reduce the damages, and the case now appears positioned for appellate review, though no appeal timeline has been publicly confirmed from the available sources.