The Texas Supreme Court has issued a decision regarding the lawsuit brought by the family of Cameron Redus against the private University of Incarnate Word.

The court has taken the side of the family.

Redus was 23 when he was shot five times by university Corporal Christopher Carter following a traffic stop near the campus on December 6, 2013.

He was shot at close range and he died on the spot.

Redus’ family filed a suit against UIW almost a year later, charging that the university didn’t demonstrate reasonable care in hiring, training, supervising, and retraining Carter.

The lawsuit claims negligence on the part of UIW and Carter and seeks to recover damages for mental anguish and funeral and burial expenses.

The university subsequently contended that it had sovereign immunity from such a lawsuit, claiming its police department was an arm of government.

In a May 22 decision, the Supreme Court delivered an 8-1 ruling in which it held that UIW was not entitled to sovereign immunity when sued regarding law enforcement matters.

The court said it had never extended sovereign immunity to a completely private entity even if it performed some government functions.

The decision means the Redus family can move ahead with the lawsuit in the Texas district court.

Chief Justice Nathan Hecht was the one dissenting vote. He said private university police departments should have the same immunity as public police departments.

Back in 2013, Carter suspected Redus was driving under the influence of alcohol when he stopped him.

An autopsy reportedly confirmed that he was heavily intoxicated. The altercation that preceded the shooting was recorded on Carter’s audio equipment.

Carter resigned from the university’s police department and was cleared by a Grand Jury in 2015.

Disclaimer: The Accident News article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.

The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Accident News’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.

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