Daunte Wright estate sued by woman he allegedly choked at gunpoint during robbery

The suit was filed on Monday, a day before the beginning of the trial of Kim Potter, a former Brooklyn Center police officer who killed Wright.

A "Justice for Daunte Wright" sign stands in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. (Lorie Shaull/Flickr)

The estate of Daunte Wright is facing yet another civil lawsuit, the third one filed over crimes he was suspected of committing in 2019 and 2021.

This most recent lawsuit comes from a woman — identified in court documents only by the initials “C.V.” — whom Wright allegedly choked at gunpoint while attempting to rob her in December 2019.

The suit was filed on Monday, a day before the beginning of the trial of Kim Potter, a former Brooklyn Center police officer who killed Wright after ostensibly mistaking her gun for her Taser. She is facing charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter.

According to a police report, Wright attended a party at his victim’s apartment and stayed the night because he didn’t have a ride home. The next morning, he confronted her over $820 in cash that her roommate paid for rent. The report alleges that Wright “choked her while trying to pull the cash out from under her bra.”

Wright, who attempted the robbery with a friend who also attended the party, then threatened to shoot her before allegedly choking her a second time. He and his friend fled the scene without the cash, purportedly to avoid police capture. He was eventually apprehended but released on probation.

Mike Padden, the attorney who filed the woman’s lawsuit, is also representing the plaintiffs in the two other lawsuits against Wright’s estate.

The first lawsuit, filed in May, accuses Wright of shooting his former friend Caleb Livingston in the head outside a gas station. Wright and Livingston had been close friends but later had a falling out. Livingston allegedly beat up Wright in front of a group of people, which angered Wright enough to want to kill him.

Although Livingston survived the shooting, he has been in a vegetative state ever since.

A similar scenario played out on March 21, just three weeks prior to Wright’s death. Joshua Hodges was carjacked by two men, one of whom is said to be Wright, a former classmate of Hodges. Wright allegedly beat Hodges before stealing his wallet and cell phone.

Wright’s accomplice is also said to have shot Hodges in the leg, which broke his fibula and remains the cause of his permanent pain and disability to this day. The lawsuit over this incident was filed in July.

 

Evan Stambaugh

Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.