Jury awards $8.3 million to foster teen's family after his death at
juvenile intake center
[February 06, 2026]
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Jurors have awarded $8.3 million to the family of a Kansas foster teen
who died in 2021 after he was held facedown for 39 minutes in a juvenile
intake center while in the throes of a mental health crisis.
Five juvenile officers in Sedgwick County either used excessive force on
Cedric “C.J.” Lofton or failed to intervene, the jurors decided
Wednesday after a trial in federal court in Wichita.
John Marrese, an attorney for Lofton’s brother and the estate, said
Thursday that he was pleased that jurors rejected arguments that the
death stemmed from “excited delirium,” a controversial diagnosis
discredited by major medical associations. Critics say it was often used
to justify excessive force by police.
“It’s a good development in the world of prolonged prone restraint in
terms of a jury acknowledging how dangerous it is and the fact that it
can be fatal,” Marrese said.
Sedgwick County, which employed the officers named in the suit, said in
a news release Wednesday that it was reviewing the verdict and
discussing next steps.
Lofton died in a hospital on Sept. 26, 2021, just one day before his
18th birthday.
The final autopsy declared his death a homicide. But Marc Bennett, the
district attorney, said in the months that followed that the state’s
“stand-your-ground” law prevented him from pursuing charges of
involuntary manslaughter because staff members were protecting
themselves.
Lofton's mental health deteriorated after he traveled to Texas for his
grandmother's funeral, with the teen telling a foster brother that he
thought his classmates were murderous robots, Bennett wrote in a report.
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In this image from body camera video provided by Sedgwick County,
police put Cedric "C.J." Lofton, 17, into a body-length restraining
device called a WRAP outside his home in Wichita, Kan., on Sept. 24,
2021. (Sedgwick County via AP, File)
Lofton's foster father drove him to a mental health provider, but
the teen ran off. When Lofton returned home at 1 a.m. the following
day, the foster father called Wichita police, the report said.
Officers then spent nearly an hour trying to persuade Lofton to let
them take him to a mental hospital, body camera video showed. But
the 5-foot-10, 135-pound (1.7-meter, 61-kilogram) teenager refused
to budge.
Ultimately, officers decided to take him forcibly, restraining him
in something called the WRAP, a device comprised of a locking
shoulder harness, leg restraints and ankle straps.
A sergeant then determined he was too combative to go to the
hospital, so officers transported him to the Sedgwick County
Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center instead, the report showed.
After the WRAP restraint was removed, Lofton scuffled with staff,
who shackled Lofton’s ankles and put him on his stomach on the
floor. Paramedics rushed to the facility after staff noticed he
wasn't breathing, but he died two days later.
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