** A copy of the lawsuit and verdict form can be found HERE **
Plaintiffs' attorneys Houman Sayaghi and Neama Rahmani of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers are available for interviews.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESS Newswire / December 16, 2025 / A federal jury in California has awarded $13.1 million - the largest ever excessive force verdict against the county - to the parents of a man who stabbed a Riverside County sheriff's deputy with a screwdriver, then was fatally shot in the back as he ran away.
Although Jeffrey Alexander Monroy, 33, of Cathedral City stabbed the deputy in the neck and head, leaving him injured, the jury found that the Sheriff's Department negligently used excessive force. The mentally ill pool worker, who had not been a suspect in any crime, was about 20 feet away with his back turned when the deputy opened fire.
"If not for the negligence and outright violations of Mr. Monroy's civil rights, he would still be alive today enjoying time with his family, but instead they are left to grieve for the rest of their lives," said plaintiff's attorney Houman Sayaghi of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers.
"There is no excuse for shooting Mr. Monroy multiple times in the back when he was no threat at all to the deputy," Sayaghi added. "Thankfully, the jury saw the truth and came to the right conclusion and held law enforcement accountable for its egregious actions."
"For the past five years, it has been our honor and privilege to stand beside the Monroy family. Nothing can ever replace what they lost, but this verdict represents justice and accountability, and we are thankful the jury gave this family the voice and justice they deserve," said plaintiffs' co-counsel Kaveh Navab of Navab Law.
Attorneys for defendants Riverside County, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Corporal Ruben Perez fought the case aggressively for nearly five years, filing a motion for summary judgment, dodging court-ordered mediation and appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
West Coast Trial Lawyers and Navab Law argued that Bianco created a culture of impunity within the Sheriff's Department that encourages violence and Constitutional violations, creating a public menace of major proportions.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force, deprivation of life without due process, wrongful death, assault and battery, and negligence.
On Aug. 7, 2020, Monroy, who worked with his father's pool service, walked along affluent Tamarisk Lane in Rancho Mirage, seeking to borrow a phone to call his brother for a ride home. As he wandered the neighborhood, residents called police to report a "suspicious individual" in a black bandana and black clothing.
Corporal Perez and Monroy's brother arrived simultaneously, at which point Perez confronted Monroy, the two scuffled and Monroy, apparently suffering a mental breakdown, stabbed Perez multiple times, injuring him.
It should have been apparent to Perez that Monroy was suffering a mental health crisis, the family's lawyers argued.
But as Monroy's brother tried to defuse the situation, pulling him 20 feet away from the confrontation, Perez suddenly, and without warning or verbal command, opened fire and shot nine times, hitting Monroy three times in the back as he ran away, and two more shots hit him on the side.
The jury assigned 70% of the fault for the shooting to the corporal and 30% to Monroy. It awarded $4 million for loss of life, $100,000 for pre-death pain and suffering, and $9 million in wrongful death damages to Monroy's parents, Longina Perez Monroy and David Monroy.
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SOURCE: West Coast Trial Lawyers
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire