The family of Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, is set to receive a $3.25 million settlement. This follows an incident in August 2020 where she was mistakenly pronounced dead. An emergency room doctor incorrectly declared the woman dead over the phone while she was at her home in Southfield, Michigan.
However, Beauchamp was discovered alive and breathing, with her eyes open, by a funeral home worker preparing to embalm the body upon the body’s arrival.
“She couldn’t speak for herself. She laid in a body bag a lot, and couldn’t even tell nobody,” Erica Lattimore, Beauchamp’s mother, recounted to WDIV-TV last year, during the five-year anniversary of her daughter’s death.
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Two months after Beauchamp was transferred to a hospital, she died in October.
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Her family’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger of Fieger Law, attributed her death to “massive brain damage.” This damage, he claimed, was sustained because she was denied oxygen for an extended period when she was mistakenly pronounced deceased.
The family of Timesha Beauchamp has secured a $3.25 million settlement, according to confirmation from Fieger Law.
Nevertheless, on the fifth-year anniversary of her daughter’s death, Beauchamp’s mother reaffirmed her commitment to seeking justice.
“I’m not giving up,” Lattimore told WDIV-TV at the time. “I will go through the long haul, however long it takes. She lived 20 years. If it takes 20 more years for this to get heard in court and God gives me the breath, I’m there.”
The law firm released a statement to People, saying, “After years of hard-fought litigation, we were able to achieve justice for Timesha and her family.”
“Like many of the families and people that we represent, this is a bittersweet moment for the family. They are able to close this chapter in their lives, but nothing will ever bring Timesha back,” Fieger Law continued.
In a statement obtained by People, officials in Southfield, Michigan, addressed the settlement, acknowledging the deep impact of the tragedy.
They stated, “We recognize that no resolution can undo the profound tragedy that occurred on August 23, 2020, or ease the pain experienced by Ms. Beauchamp’s family.” The officials described the case as involving “extraordinarily difficult circumstances that arose in the complex world of a global pandemic.”
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They added, “The City respects the judicial process and believes that the complexity of these issues and the emotional impact on all parties made resolution through settlement appropriate at this time. The City remains committed to providing the highest quality of emergency medical services to our community and hopes this settlement allows all parties to move forward,” officials continued.
The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesperson explained to People in 2020 that Beauchamp’s death was declared based on real-time medical data, which included information on her heartbeat and breathing, supplied by the responding authorities and EMS personnel.
A spokesperson for the Southfield Fire Department also previously told People that the responding authorities “followed all appropriate city, county and state protocols and procedures in this case.”
Beauchamp’s family filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Southfield EMS Paramedics. According to attorney Fieger’s previous statement, the legal action was taken because the paramedics had declared the 20-year-old woman dead, despite her being “very much alive.”
