EMTs who declared breathing Southfield woman dead can't be sued, court rules

Almost three years ago, Michigan EMTs and paramedics responded to a call to help an unresponsive woman with cerebral palsy. After performing CPR and other resuscitative acts for about 30 minutes, the first responders declared 20-year-old Timesha Beauchamp dead.

But when a funeral home embalmer unzipped her body bag later that day, Beauchamp was gasping for air. She was taken to a hospital, where she died of a brain injury about six weeks later.

Her death prompted Beauchamp's family to sue the city of Southfield and its four first responders who declared Beauchamp dead, claiming their false judgment contributed to Beauchamp's fatal brain injury.

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But on Wednesday, an appellate court ruled in favor of the first responders, quashing the lawsuit.

Three U.S. Court of Appeals judges in Cincinnati ruled that the first responders were entitled to qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that protects government officials from liability in civil lawsuits unless it is proven that they violated a constitutional right.

Robert Kamenec, an attorney representing Beauchamp's estate, told The Washington Post that "the opinion speaks for itself" but declined to comment further.

Kali Henderson, an attorney representing the city of Southfield and its first responders, said in a statement that the decision was "a correct statement of the law."

"This case should have never been filed in federal court," she said, "and there were no grounds for it."

More:911 call: Southfield woman taken to funeral home breathing, had eyes open

In August 2020, Erica Lattimore visited her daughter's room in their Southfield home to give Beauchamp medication. Lattimore noticed Beauchamp was unresponsive and tried to give her oxygen before calling 911.

Four first responders arrived minutes later, performing CPR and ventilating Beauchamp with a bag valve mask. They soon declared Beauchamp dead, despite her family members noticing that she was breathing and had a pulse. The first responders said the supposed signs of life were a post-mortem reaction to medication, according to court documents.

Lattimore asked a Detroit funeral home to collect Beauchamp's body. An employee wrapped Beauchamp in a sheet, put her into a body bag and placed her body in a car.

About 15 minutes later at the funeral home, an embalmer unzipped the bag to find Beauchamp gasping for air and her chest moving. The embalmer called 911, and different paramedics took her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with an anoxic brain injury. She remained in a vegetative state and was placed on a ventilator.

In the aftermath, the Southfield Fire Department said in a statement that it "followed all appropriate city, county and state protocols and procedures." While the first responders' medical licenses were suspended, they have since been reinstated, Henderson said.

In October 2020, attorneys representing Beauchamp's family sued the city and the four responders for $50 million, claiming they violated Beauchamp's civil rights.

"All of this could have been avoided," the law firm said in a statement at the time, "had more care been taken."

Later that month, Beauchamp died at the hospital.

In July 2022, a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan judge first dismissed the lawsuit against the city and first responders, citing qualified immunity.

Beauchamp's estate appealed the decision the next month, but the appeals court affirmed the district court's decision. The judges wrote that they acknowledged the first responders prematurely declared Beauchamp dead but that Beauchamp's estate "failed to plead a constitutional violation."