Originally published in the Spring 2022 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 68, printed April 21. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Spring 2022 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

LaToya Benton, the mother of a Black teenager fatally shot by Virginia State Police troopers, has filed a $60.35 million wrongful death lawsuit against the officers.

Eighteen-year-old Xzavier Hill was killed on Jan. 9, 2021, after being stopped by two officers in Goochland County. The officers reported that Hill had been driving at an excessive speed, with one headlight out, and attempted to elude them when they tried to pull him over.

They maintain that Hill refused to exit his vehicle and they thought he was reaching for a gun. A .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol reportedly was found in Hill’s vehicle, with a round jammed in the chamber.

In February 2021, a multi-jurisdictional grand jury concluded that the officers were not criminally liable for Hill’s death. The investigation was headed by Goochland Commonwealth’s Attorney D. Michael Caudill, a former state trooper and Henrico County police officer.

Two weeks after the grand jury’s decision, the Virginia State Conference NAACP asked then-Attorney General Mark Herring to review the shooting. Herring’s office said he would look into the matter.

Benton does not have an attorney as she pursues her complaint in U.S. District Court in Richmond. At a news conference she held April 14 to announce the lawsuit, she said at least five attorneys had declined to represent her in the case, but that she would pursue the lawsuit, with or without representation.

For more information, see: justiceforxzavier.org .