KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The widow of Kansas City, Missouri, police officer killed in an on-duty car crash filed an agreement in Jackson County Court to settle her civil lawsuit with the man who caused the crash.
Cassie Muhlbauer, whose husband, K-9 officer James Muhlbauer, was killed in a Feb. 15, 2023, crash, filed the Approval of Settlement with Jerron Lightfoot.
Lightfoot drove the car that crashed and killed Muhlbauer, his K-9 partner, Champ and Jesse Eckes, a pedestrian at Truman Road and Benton Boulevard.
Jackson County prosecutors charged Lightfoot with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
"Plaintiff, Cassie Muhlbauer, and Defendant, Jerron Lightfoot, have agreed, subject to the approval of this Court, to waive their right to a jury trial and to enter into a compromise settlement regarding any and all claims Plaintiff has or may have against Defendant Lightfoot, arising from the above-described accident of February 15, 2023," the agreement states.
Cassie Muhlbauer will receive $100,000 if the judge approves the proposed settlement.
Lightfoot is scheduled for a trial on the two involuntary manslaughter charges in February 2024.
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