- Rajon Belt-Stubblefield’s family files federal lawsuit against officer and city for wrongful death
- Lawsuit raises concerns about officer’s history of racial profiling and department’s poor treatment of Black residents
- Family seeks accountability and full justice, not just a criminal indictment, to address systemic issues
The family of Rajon Belt-Stubblefield is back in court, and this time they’re coming for the City of Aurora and the police officer accused of ending the 37-year-old Black father’s life.
As BOSSIP previously reported earlier this year, Belt-Stubblefield was fatally shot by Aurora Police Officer Matthew Neely in August 2025 following a traffic crash and a brief confrontation. Now, one year after his death, his family has filed a 144-page federal lawsuit accusing Neely and the city of wrongful death, excessive force and civil rights violations, according to CBS News Colorado. And yes, Neely is already facing criminal charges. A grand jury indicted him on second-degree murder and manslaughter, so the family isn’t exactly accepting the notion that an indictment should be the end of this conversation.
Ubiquitious civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, made it clear outside the federal courthouse that they’re demanding the whole nine yards when it comes to accountability. He argued that Neely continued escalating the encounter after firing multiple shots at Belt-Stubblefield, describing what happened as a failure to de-escalate.
“We want to make sure that Rajon gets full justice, not partial justice, not half justice, not three-fifths justice, but Zion, your father deserves full justice,” said Crump outside the courthouse.
The lawsuit also raises serious questions about whether Neely’s conduct was an isolated incident or part of a larger problem inside the Aurora Police Department. According to the complaint, the department had received multiple complaints accusing Neely of racial profiling or racially selective traffic enforcement dating back to 2014. Those complaints were dismissed, including one filed just six weeks before Belt-Stubblefield was killed. That detail is particularly glaring considering Aurora’s history of scrutiny over its treatment of Black residents. The department is already operating under a consent decree requiring reforms to its policing practices.
The family is seeking damages for economic losses, grief and suffering, and the loss of Belt-Stubblefield’s life. They are also asking the court to determine that the killing was “felonious,” which could allow them to get around Colorado’s $2.125 million cap on noneconomic damages. Crump makes it clear that while the civil suit, it’s necessary because rarely do families get true criminal justice when it comes these types of shootings.
“We want full justice,” said Crump. “Because oftentimes, and I mean this sincerely, oftentimes when marginalized people of color are killed unjustly and unnecessarily and unconstitutionally by police, there’s this belief that well, if they get a criminal indictment, not a conviction, that’s enough. That’s not enough.”
For Belt-Stubblefield’s loved ones, however, this case is about more than money. They want accountability for Rajon, his children and a policing system they believe allowed his death to happen.
