Prairie Village sued over death of pregnant woman killed by driver fleeing police

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the city of Prairie Village by the family of a woman killed by a driver fleeing from police.

The suit was filed by the family of Denisse Lopez, an office employee at Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kan., who was fatally injured in January 2016.

Lopez was pregnant, but the baby boy was delivered before she died.

The suit was filed in Johnson County District Court on behalf of her husband and two surviving children, including the son who was born after the crash.

The crash occurred at 75th Street and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park when a driver fleeing from a Prairie Village police stop ran a red light and struck the vehicle occupied by Lopez and several others.

The fleeing driver, Raphael Sherman, 23, of Shawnee, is serving a prison sentence of 12 years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

According to the allegations in the lawsuit, the officer was reckless in pursuing Sherman’s vehicle “when it was unsafe to do so due to traffic conditions.”

The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

This story was originally published January 10, 2018 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Prairie Village sued over death of pregnant woman killed by driver fleeing police."