Evelyn Alexander, 75, died after a Shreveport police vehicle struck her on Greenwood Road on February 3, 2026. Her daughters later filed a federal lawsuit over the collision. KSLA reported the lawsuit on July 17, a development missing from this article’s earlier account.
What police initially reported
The Shreveport Police Department’s initial release placed the collision just after 7 p.m. in the 3700 block of Greenwood Road. It said officers were answering a call when a woman entered the roadway and was struck by a department vehicle. SPD assigned its Crash Investigation Unit and said the officer submitted voluntarily to procedural testing. At that early stage, the department reported no indication of wrongdoing and no citation.
Those statements describe the department’s initial assessment. They do not establish the outcome of the later civil lawsuit. Our discussion of crashes in which no ticket is issued explains why a citation decision does not resolve civil fault.
KSLA’s coverage, updated July 20, attributes the identification to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office. Its earlier reporting says police described an armed-person call, no emergency lights on the striking vehicle, its dashcam being off, and a second responding unit’s dashcam being on. The previous-coverage section also reported that police placed the officer on administrative leave and that SPD crash investigators were handling the case without Louisiana State Police involvement at that time. Those statements do not establish the officer’s current employment status or the current investigative arrangements. The same story contains conflicting accounts of whether Alexander died at the scene or at a hospital; SPD’s release says the scene. We have not verified a clarification.
What the June complaint alleges
The file-stamped complaint published with KSLA’s coverage identifies Dawn Sheree Lair and Nyota Child Lair as Alexander’s surviving daughters. It was filed June 15, 2026, in the Western District of Louisiana, case 5:26-cv-02035. The named defendants include the City of Shreveport, an unidentified Officer John Doe, and additional unnamed defendants.
The daughters allege failures in lookout, vehicle operation, warning equipment, and city training or policies. Their complaint asserts federal civil-rights claims along with Louisiana negligence, wrongful-death, and survival claims. These are allegations in a pleading. The material reviewed for this update does not establish a judgment, settlement, or final finding of fault.
In its July 20 update, KSLA also reported negative results for the alcohol and chemical screens it listed, and a presumptive cotinine finding requiring confirmation. That is a description of the news report, not our independent interpretation of a complete toxicology file. The reported screening results alone do not reconstruct the collision.
Records that could answer the disputed questions
The complaint requests preservation of camera footage, dispatch records, vehicle data, photographs, measurements, and investigative materials. A request identifies evidence to seek; it does not establish that every listed record exists or what it shows.
Scroll horizontally to see all columns. Use the arrow keys when the table is focused.
| Question | Records to examine if available | Limit to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| What could the officer see before impact? | Original video, scene measurements, lighting photographs, witness vantage points | A camera’s field of view may differ from the driver’s view. |
| How was the unit being operated? | Vehicle data, location records, dispatch audio, warning-equipment records | The urgency of a call alone does not establish speed or equipment use. |
| Where was Alexander relative to the vehicle? | Scene evidence, witness accounts, video from the second unit or nearby cameras | A summary release cannot supply a complete movement timeline. |
| What did investigators conclude? | Completed report, supplements, reconstruction material, later court filings | An initial department statement and a plaintiff’s complaint serve different purposes. |
If you witnessed the crash, promptly write down what you remember, including the time, lane direction, where people were located and statements you heard. Preserve personal photos, texts and call logs, and back up relevant original video before routine overwrite. If someone requests a recorded statement, ask who they represent and why they are requesting it, and keep notes of the questions and answers.
The City of Shreveport’s public-records page provides a starting point for city records. Access to particular material may be restricted. Our Louisiana crash-report guide explains why identifying the investigating agency matters and why a basic report may omit video or supplements.
How Louisiana’s emergency-vehicle rule fits
R.S. 32:24 grants specified traffic privileges to authorized emergency vehicles in defined circumstances. The statute conditions those privileges on audible or visual warnings sufficient to alert motorists, with a specific exception concerning a police vehicle’s front-facing red light. It also retains a duty of due regard for others’ safety and does not protect reckless disregard.
The reported absence of emergency lights therefore deserves examination alongside the call, any audible warning, and the manner of driving. The statute should not be reduced to a rule that every responding police vehicle is immune or that the absence of lights alone decides liability.
Different claims require separate analysis
A wrongful-death claim under article 2315.2 concerns eligible relatives’ losses from a death. A survival claim under article 2315.1 preserves the deceased person’s injury claim for the beneficiaries specified by law. The current articles generally use one year from death or two years from injury, whichever is longer, while treating medical-malpractice claims separately. The applicable version, claim, and procedural history must be checked before calculating a deadline.
Government defendants add other questions. R.S. 13:5106 contains a $500,000 limit for specified damages, but expressly excludes listed economic losses, medical care, and related benefits. It is not a blanket ceiling on every dollar in every claim. R.S. 13:5107 contains a requirement to request service within ninety days after commencement of an action or initially naming a covered public defendant, along with waiver and procedural qualifications. The statute’s state-court wording does not by itself establish a cap on the federal civil-rights claims. How Louisiana rules interact with the claims and procedures in a federal case requires separate analysis; this article does not assess compliance in the Lair lawsuit.
For ordinary injury claims within its scope, article 3493.1 generally provides two years from injury or damage; Act 423 applies prospectively to actions arising after its July 1, 2024 effective date. That general rule should not replace the death-specific periods or public-defendant procedures above.
For negligence arising from a 2026 incident, article 2323 generally bars recovery at 51 percent or more negligence and reduces recovery below that threshold. Article 2323 separately provides that recovery is not reduced when an injury results partly from the injured person’s negligence and partly from the fault of an intentional tortfeasor. The article does not establish a fault percentage in this case.
Insurance is a separate question. Any potentially applicable uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage must be assessed under R.S. 22:1295, the full policy and valid selection or rejection documents; the public reporting does not determine coverage.
For help obtaining records, preserving time-sensitive video or dispatch material, and communicating with insurers, contact Babcock Injury Lawyers for a no-obligation conversation.
Public sources and their limits
The linked initial SPD release, KSLA reports, news-linked June complaint and cited statutes serve different purposes. The complaint states allegations; the news reports describe information available on their publication or update dates.
For families seeking general information about these claims, our Shreveport wrongful-death page explains the records and family relationships involved. The account above is based on the linked public material and does not imply that Babcock Injury Lawyers represents the Alexander family.
Historical source-check date: September 29, 2026. This update adds the June complaint and July reporting. It does not represent a complete review of the current court docket or an independent crash investigation.
Historical source review date: September 30, 2026.
To report a possible factual error, contact [email protected].