The estate and the mother of a four-year-old child who was shot and killed by Macomb police two years ago while officers were responding to a domestic violence call are suing the city and Lt. Nic Goc in federal court.
The lawsuit, which makes civil rights and wrongful death claims, was filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. It alleges Goc used excessive and unjustified deadly force, resulting in Terrell Miller’s death.
The child’s estate is seeking damages from Goc and the city of Macomb, alleging his actions caused the child's death and the city is responsible, while the child’s mother is seeking damages from Goc individually, citing emotional harm.
The claims stem from the evening of March 16, 2024, when Lt. Goc and Officer Korri Cameron responded to the 900 block of North Charles Street around 10 p.m., after dispatch received multiple calls that a woman was screaming for help.
When Goc and Cameron arrived on scene, they heard screaming inside an apartment and Goc kicked down the door. Inside the apartment, officers found Keianna Miller, then 36, suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Officers then got Keianna out of the apartment as she told them her son was still inside.
About 20 feet away, the attacker — 57-year-old Anthony George — was at the end of a hallway. George then reached into a bedroom, moving out of the officers’ sight for several seconds, and pulled Keianna’s four-year-old son, Terrell, into the hallway.
George was holding knives to the boy’s throat and stomach in the hallway when Goc fired one shot that struck and killed the attacker and the child.
Two internal review panels absolved Goc in the shooting. The police department’s internal affairs board determined there was no breach of policy. The department’s deadly force review found that force was reasonable and necessary in the shooting of George, and that the shooting of Terrell Miller was accidental.
Following an investigation by Illinois State Police, the state’s appellate prosecutor found no basis for criminal charges against Goc.
The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit – Travaughn Miller, as administrator of the estate of Terrell Miller, and Keianna Miller – allege the shooting violated the child’s constitutional rights.
The estate has filed four claims in the lawsuit. It alleges Goc used excessive deadly force by firing his weapon within 19 seconds of entering the apartment, without attempting to de-escalate.
The estate argues Goc’s actions wrongfully caused Terrell Miller’s death and that the city is responsible for an on-duty officer's actions.
In a separate claim, Keianna Miller alleges Goc inflicted emotional distress through his actions during the incident, and is seeking damages from him individually.
The complaint also alleges the shooting “fits a pattern” within the Macomb Police Department of treating Black residents with “careless indifference, disrespect and lack of regard for their safety and protection.”
That claim draws on Keianna’s accounts of prior interactions with former members of the police department as early as 2010.
The defendants have not responded to the complaint.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Marleen Menendez Suarez. They're seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
