Mom says 'no amount of money' can bring back 'healthy, active' teen injured in unauthorized police chase

The unauthorized police chase that left her teen son on a feeding tube, unable to walk or speak also changed the course of Erika Boyd’s life.

She became the primary caregiver for Nathen Jones, now 18.

Her long, arduous days begin and end with tasks normally reserved for a baby.

“I don’t talk about all the hard work and dedication it takes to take care of my son and the effort and the hard work that his siblings put in. … This is gonna be the rest of our lives,” Erika Boyd told reporters shortly after the City Council’s Finance Committee authorized a $45 million settlement to cover the medical care her son will need for the rest of his life.

“We seem to take things for granted. Like just being able to get up and stand up and get out of bed and use the restroom. He was able to do that before. He’s non-verbal, but ... we kind of know, like, OK, he’s kind of irritated and he wants to be changed. But he can’t say that. That’s something he’ll have to deal with for the rest of his life.”

With her son in a wheelchair at her side, Boyd said it was “kind of overwhelming” to see the Finance Committee put “an end to this part of it. … so that we can go on and try to do the best possible things to help Nathen. … That’s my baby boy.”

But she said “no amount of money” can compensate her family for the daily heartache that Chicago police officer Jhonathan Perez caused when he decided to chase a 2002 Volkswagen that went through stop signs at several Near West Side intersections in April 2021. Jones was a backseat passenger in that car.

“Nathen was a regular, happy, healthy, active 15-year-old kid. He brought our family a lot of joy. He still does. But the price that he had to pay for being in a car — no amount of money can bring back the child I had before this,” Erika Boyd said.

“He is greatly and deeply loved by everyone in his family. … I’ve grown to understand Nathen for who he is now. I love him with all my heart. I appreciate who he is now. His new personality is better than no personality at all. But, I definitely miss the child I had. He supported me. He made sure I was alright. Just a simple, ‘Hey, Mom. How was your day?’ I’ll never be able to get that — ever.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Before signing off on one of the largest settlements in Chicago history, the Finance Committee was told Perez did not get permission from or even notify his supervisor before initiating the chase, which reached speeds up to 67 mph. Had he done so, he likely would have been reminded the newly-revised pursuit policy prohibits officers from initiating a chase when the most serious offense being committed by the target of the pursuit is a traffic violation or even a theft.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Margaret Mendenhall Casey warned the committee of the risks of going to trial.

She acknowledged a jury would likely “apportion fault” between the city and Khalil Raggs, the convicted felon driving the Volkswagen. After blowing several stop signs, Raggs, westbound on Grand Avenue, then went through a red light, colliding with a southbound Toyota at Damen Avenue. That sharing of fault was likely even though Perez had turned off his emergency lights and sirens and began to stop his unmarked Ford Explorer roughly a block away from the crash site.

As Mendenhall Casey reminded alderpersons on the committee, under state law governing jury instructions, if the city were found even 1% responsible for the crash that forever changed the teen’s life, the city would have to pay all of Nathen Jones’ medical expenses.

That amounts to “at least $44 million” for an 18-year-old with a normal life expectancy — and the potential award easily could top $100 million, if a jury were to also compensate Jones for “pain and suffering and loss of a normal life,” Mendenhall Casey said.

At trial, “we certainly would argue that the sole cause of this accident is Khalil Raggs and his bad driving, but we’re making this recommendation [to settle] because that argument … is not likely to succeed.”

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) asked if Perez was told to end the pursuit. That’s when Mendenhall Casey said supervisors “did not have the opportunity to tell him” to do so, because Perez never called to notify his bosses, as required by the chase policy.

“For a stop sign, we’ve got a young person who is never gonna walk, never gonna eat, never gonna talk, never gonna get to have a baby. Never gonna be able to do any of those things and we’re arguing about this and this little money,” Taylor said.

“That can’t replace [a normal life]. We don’t know what that young person’s life would have been had the officer not pursued for rolling a stop sign. … How is this family supposed to take care of this young person for the rest of his life?”

Contributing: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times