Federal Judge Upholds Two Counts Against City, MPD
On Sunday, March 15, 2026, two years after four-year-old Terrell Miller of Macomb was shot and killed by Macomb police, the child's father, Trauvaughn Miller, the administrator for the estate of Terrell Miller, and his mother, Keianna Miller, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois against the City of Macomb and Macomb Police Lt. Nick Goc. Last week, on Sept. 21, Judge Sarah Darrow dismissed some of the counts, and upheld two.
The Millers, represented by Marleen Suarez of Suarez Law LLC of Fairmont City, requested a trial, and unspecified financial damages, for the following counts: the violation of Terrell Miller's Civil Rights related to the 14th Amendment (right to protection); willful and wanton conduct; wrongful death; intentional infliction of emotional distress, and respondeat superior (municipality liability - holding an employer legally responsible for the wrongful acts of an employee).
Judge Darrow dismissed the wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress counts because the statute of limitations has expired. The lawsuit was filed two years after Terrell's death, missing the one-year deadline Illinois sets for injury and wrongful death claims against public employees and municipalities. Civil rights claims against police officers carry a separate two-year deadline, which had also passed.
Darrow also dismissed the respondeat superior count, the only claim filed by Keianna Miller. Miller was removed from the suit as a result. The judge upheld two counts: the 14th Amendment claim alleging violation of Terrell's constitutional rights, and the indemnification count. The indemnification claim allows the City of Macomb to seek reimbursement from Goc if he is found liable for the alleged 14th Amendment violation.
