Family of Georgia Teen Killed by Police in Newnan Plans Seventy Five Million Dollar Wrongful Death Suit After Fatal October Shooting

NEWNAN, GA — The family of 18-year-old Zadarious Dorsey says it plans to seek seventy five million dollars from the city of Newnan after a police officer fatally shot him on Oct. 3. The family’s legal team has already sent the city a notice of claim, which is a formal warning that a lawsuit is coming, attorney Harry Daniels said Friday.

Daniels said the notice asks for damages tied to wrongful death, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. He stressed that the filing is not yet a lawsuit, but a step that opens the door to one. The family says the shooting should never have happened and that the officer had no reason to chase Dorsey in the first place.

Attorneys say Dorsey was unarmed and not suspected of a crime

At the news conference, Daniels said video shows Dorsey was unarmed when he was shot. He also said a gun was found 45 feet away from Dorsey after the shooting. The family’s lawyers say Dorsey was not suspected of a crime and was not the subject of a traffic stop.

Ben Crump joined Daniels in calling for criminal charges against the officer. Crump said the teen was shot six times in the back and described the force used as excessive. “If that’s not excessive use of force, I don’t know what is,” he said. The family’s position is that the officer had no legal basis to pursue Dorsey before the shooting.

The family says the loss is still felt every day

Christy White, Dorsey’s aunt, spoke emotionally about the family’s grief. She said relatives still call his phone simply to hear his voice, a painful reminder that he is gone. Daniels said no financial award can replace what the family lost.

The family has framed the case not only as a legal fight, but as a personal loss that continues to affect relatives daily. Their attorneys used the news conference to press the city to account for the shooting and to push for criminal consequences as well as civil damages. For the family, the planned lawsuit is part of a broader demand for answers.

State investigators gave a different account of the shooting

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has described the shooting differently in its initial account. According to the agency, an officer followed a car until it stopped on Cliff Circle. Five men got out, and four of them ran, the GBI said.

The agency said the officer chased Dorsey and used a Taser, but it did not stop him. Investigators said Dorsey then pulled a gun from his waistband, was ordered to stop and drop it, and was shot multiple times. The GBI said a gun was recovered at the scene and that Dorsey was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Why the planned claim matters for the city of Newnan

The notice of claim puts the city on formal notice that Dorsey’s family intends to sue, but it does not itself begin a court case. If filed, the lawsuit would seek money damages for the family and likely add a civil legal process to the still-developing criminal and investigative questions around the shooting.

For now, the GBI remains the agency investigating the incident at the request of the Newnan Police Department. That investigation, along with the family’s legal threat, keeps the case active on both the civil and law-enforcement fronts. The competing accounts from the family and state investigators are likely to remain central as more information comes out.

What remains unresolved after the October shooting

Several key questions have not been publicly settled, including why the officer first pursued the car, what led to the chase on Cliff Circle, and how the confrontation escalated so quickly. The family’s attorneys say the officer should face criminal charges, while investigators have said the teen pulled a gun before being shot.

The case now moves forward with two tracks: a possible civil lawsuit by the family and a state investigation into the shooting. For Dorsey’s relatives, the legal fight is tied to the same central point they raised Friday — that his death should not be accepted as inevitable, and that the city and investigators must answer for what happened.